UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 

BROWSING  ROOM 


■bUU^vbiiNVj  ivuo^^i 


GIFT  OF 

SEELEY  W.  MUDD 

and 

GEORGE  I.  COCHRAN     MEYER  ELSASSER 

DR.JOHN  R.  HAYNES    WILLIAM  L.  UONNOLD 

JAMES  K.  MARTIN         MRS.  JOSEPH  F.  SARTORl 

10  Iht 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

SOUTHERN  BRANCH 


k. 


EDITION   DE   LUXE. 


THE    WORKS 


FRANCIS    PARKMAN. 


VOLUME    V. 


Eight  Copies  of  the  Edition  de  Luxe  of  Francis  Parkmans 
IVorks  have  been  printed  for  presentation. 


No 


...£. 


CoufiU  &  Cf  Par 


La  Salle  presenting  a  petition  to  Louis  Xiy. 

Goupilgravure  facsimile  of  the  water-color  by  Adrian  Moreau. 


LA  SALLE  AND  THE  DISCOV- 
ERY OF  THE  GREAT  WEST  ^ 
FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND  IN 
NORTH  AMERICA  •  Part  Third 
BY    FRANCIS    PARKMAN  .^  J-  J-  J- 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES 
Vol.  I. 


BOSTON  ^  LITTLE  •  BROWN 
AND- COMPANY  .^MDCCCXCVII 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1869,  b}' 

Francis  Pakkmax, 

In  the  Clerk's  Otlice  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 

Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1879,  by 

Francis  PARiiMAN, 
In  the  Ollice  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 

Cop  i/ri gilt,  1S07, 
By  Little,  Brown,  ani>  Company. 


33nii3rrsitg  ^rrss: 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Camhkidgk,  U.S.A. 


F 


TO 

THE   CLASS   OF  1844, 

THIS     BOOK     IS     CORDIALLY    DEDICATED 
BY   ONE   OF    THEIR   NUMBER. 


174088 


PREFACE  OF  THE  ELEVENTH  EDITION. 


When  the  earlier  editions  of  this  book  were 
pubhshed,  I  was  aware  of  the  existence  of  a  col- 
lection of  documents  relating  to  La  Salle,  and 
containing  important  material  to  which  I  had 
not  succeeded  in  gaining  access.  This  collection 
was  in  possession  of  M.  Pierre  Margry,  director 
of  the  Archives  of  the  Marine  and  Colonies  at 
Paris,  and  was  the  result  of  more  than  thirty 
years  of  research.  With  rare  assiduity  and  zeal, 
M.  Margry  had  explored  not  only  the  vast  de- 
pository with  which  he  has  been  officially  con- 
nected from  youth,  and  of  which  he  is  now  the 
chief,  but  also  the  other  public  archives  of 
France,  and  many  private  collections  in  Paris 
and  the  provinces.  The  object  of  his  search 
was  to  throw  light  on  the  career  and  achieve- 
ments of  French  explorers,  and,  above  all,  of  La 
Salle.  A  collection  of  extraordinary  richness 
grew  gradually  upon  his  hands.     In  the  course 


Viii      PREFACE  OF  THE  ELEVENTH  EDITION. 

of  my  own  inquiries,  I  owed  much  to  his  friendly 
aid ;  but  his  collections,  as  a  whole,  remained 
inaccessible,  since  he  naturally  wished  to  be  the 
first  to  make  known  the  results  of  his  labors. 
An  attempt  to  induce  Congress  to  furnish  him 
with  the  means  of  printing  documents  so  inter- 
esting to  American  history  was  made  in  1870 
and  1871,  by  Henry  Harrisse,  Esq.,  aided  by  the 
American  minister  at  Paris ;  but  it  unfortu- 
nately failed. 

In  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1872,  I  had 
numerous  interviews  with  M.  Margry,  and  at  his 
desire  undertook  to  try  to  induce  some  Ameri- 
can bookseller  to  publish  the  collection.  On  re- 
turning to  the  United  States,  I  accordingly  made 
an  arrangement  with  Messrs.  Little,  Brown  & 
Co.,  of  Boston,  by  which  they  agreed  to  print 
the  papers  if  a  certain  number  of  subscriptions 
should  first  be  obtained.  The  condition  proved 
very  difficult ;  and  it  became  clear  that  the  best 
hope  of  success  lay  in  another  appeal  to  Con- 
gress. This  was  made  in  the  following  winter, 
in  conjunction  with  Hon.  E.  B.  Washburne; 
Colonel  Charles  Whittlesey,  of  Cleveland  ;  0.  H. 
Marshall,  Esq.,  of  Buffalo ;  and  other  gentlemen 
interested  in  early  American  history.  The  at- 
tempt succeeded.     Congress  made  an  appropria- 


PREFACE  OF  THE  ELEVENTH  EDITION.       ix 

tion  for  the  purchase  of  five  hundred  copies  of 
the  worlc,  to  be  printed  at  Paris,  under  direction 
of  M.  Margry ;  and  the  three  volumes  devoted 
to  La  Salle  are  at  length  before  the  public. 

Of  the  papers  contained  in  them  which  I  had 
not  before  examined,  the  most  interesting  are 
the  letters  of  La  Salle,  found  in  the  original  by 
M.  Margry,  among  the  immense  accumulations 
of  the  Archives  of  the  Marine  and  Colonies  and 
the  Bibliotheque  Nationale.  The  narrative  of 
La  Salle's  companion,  Joutel,  far  more  copious 
than  the  abstract  printed  in  1713,  under  the 
title  of  "  Journal  Historique,"  also  deserves 
special  mention.  These,  with  other  fresh  mate- 
rial in  these  three  volumes,  while  they  add  new 
facts  and  throw  new  light  on  the  character  of 
La  Salle,  confirm  nearly  every  statement  made 
in  the  first  edition  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Great 
West.  The  only  exception  of  consequence  re- 
lates to  the  causes  of  La  Salle's  failure  to  find 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  in  1684,  and  to  the 
conduct,  on  that  occasion,  of  the  naval  com- 
mander, Beaujeu. 

This  edition  is  revised  throughout,  and  in  part 
rewritten  with  large  additions.  A  map  of  the 
country  traversed  by  the  explorers  is  also  added. 
The  name  of  La  Salle  is  placed  on  the  titlepage. 


X         PREFACE   OF  THE  ELEVENTH  EDITION. 

as  seems  to  be  demanded  by  his  increased  promi- 
nence in  the  narrative  of  which  he  is  the  central 
figure. 

Boston,  10  December,  1878. 


Note.  —  The  title  of  M.  Margry's  printed  collection  is"Decou- 
vertes  et  fetablissements  des  Fran9ais  dans  I'Ouest  et  dans  le  Sud 
de  I'Amerique  Septentrionale  (1614-1754),  Memoires  et  Documents 
originaux."  I.,  II.,  III.  Besides  the  three  volumes  relating  to  La 
Salle,  there  will  be  two  others,  relating  to  other  explorers.  In  ac- 
cordance with  the  agreement  with  Congress,  an  independent  edition 
will  appear  in  France,  with  an  introduction  setting  forth  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  publication. 


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PREFACE  OF  THE  FIRST   EDITION. 


The  discovery  of  the  "  Great  West,"  or  the 
valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Lakes,  is  a 
portion  of  our  history  hitherto  very  obscure. 
Those  magnificent  regions  were  revealed  to  the 
world  through  a  series  of  daring  enterprises, 
of  which  the  motives  and  even  the  incidents 
have  been  but  partially  and  superficially  known. 
The  chief  actor  in  them  wrote  much,  but  printed 
nothing ;  and  the  published  writings  of  his  asso- 
ciates stand  wofully  in  need  of  interpretation 
from  the  unpublished  documents  which  exist, 
but  which  have  not  heretofore  been  used  as 
material  for  history. 

Tliis  volume  attempts  to  supply  the  defect. 
Of  the  large  amount  of  wholly  new  material 
employed  in  it,  by  far  the  greater  part  is  drawn 
from  the  various  public  archives  of  France,  and 
the  rest  from  private  sources.  The  discovery  of 
many  of  these  documents  is  due  to  the  indefati- 
gable  research  of   M.  Pierre  Margry,  assistant 


xii  PREFACE  OF  THE  FIRST   EDITION. 

director  of  the  Archives  of  the  Marine  and  Colo- 
nies at  Paris,  whose  labors  as  an  investigator  of 
the  maritime  and  colonial  history  of  France  can 
be  appreciated  only  by  those  who  have  seen  their 
results.  In  the  department  of  American  colo- 
nial history,  these  results  have  been  invaluable  ; 
for,  besides  several  private  collections  made  by 
him,  he  rendered  important  service  in  the  collec- 
tion of  the  French  portion  of  the  Brodhead  doc- 
uments, selected  and  arranged  the  two  great 
series  of  colonial  papers  ordered  by  the  Canadian 
government,  and  prepared  with  vast  labor  ana- 
lytical indexes  of  these  and  of  supplementary 
documents  in  the  French  archives,  as  well  as  a 
copious  index  of  the  mass  of  papers  relating  to 
Louisiana.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  valuable 
publications  on  the  maritime  history  of  France 
which  have  appeared  from  his  pen  are  an  earn- 
est of  more  extended  contributions  in  future. 

The  late  President  Sparks,  some  time  after  the 
publication  of  his  Life  of  La  Salle,  caused  a 
collection  to  be  made  of  documents  relating  to 
tliat  explorer,  with  the  intention  of  incorporat- 
ing them  in  a  future  edition.  This  intention 
was  never  carried  into  effect,  and  the  documents 
were  never  used.  With  the  liberality  which 
always  distinguished  him,  he  placed  them  at  my 


PREFACE    OF   THE  FIRST   EDITION.  Xlli 

disposal,  and  this  privilege  has  been  kindly  con- 
tinued by  Mrs.  Sparks. 

Abb^  Faillon,  the  learned  author  of  "  La  Colo- 
nie  Fran^aise  en  Canada,"  has  sent  me  copies 
of  various  documents  found  by  him,  including 
family  papers  of  La  Salle.  Among  others  who 
in  various  ways  have  aided  my  inquiries  are  Dr. 
John  Paul,  of  Ottawa,  111. ;  Count  Adolphe  de 
Circourt,  and  M.  Jules  Marcou,  of  Paris ;  M.  A. 
Gerin  Lajoie,  Assistant  Librarian  of  the  Cana- 
dian Parliament ;  M.  J.  M.  Le  Moine,  of  Que- 
bec ;  General  Dix,  Minister  of  the  United  States 
at  the  Court  of  France ;  0.  H.  Marshall,  of  Buf- 
falo ;  J.  G.  Shea,  of  New  York ;  Buckingham 
Smith,  of  St.  Augustine ;  and  Colonel  Thomas 
Aspinwall,  of  Boston. 

The  smaller  map  contained  in  the  book  is  a 
portion  of  the  manuscript  map  of  Franquelin,  of 
which  an  account  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

The  next  volume  of  the  series  will  be  devoted 
to  the  efforts  of  Monarchy  and  Feudalism  under 
Louis  XIV.  to  establish  a  permanent  power  on 
this  continent,  and  to  the  stormy  career  of  Louis 
de  Buade,  Count  of  Frontenac. 

Boston,  16  September,  1869. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
Introduction 3 

CHAPTER  I. 

1643-1669. 

CAVELIER    DE    LA    SALLE. 

The  Youth  of  La  Salle:  his  Connection  with  the  Jesuits;  he 
goes  to  Canada ;  his  Character ;  his  Schemes ;  his  Seigniory 
at  La  Chine ;  his  Expedition  in  Search  of  a  Western  Passage 
to  India     . ,        7 

CHAPTER  II. 

1669-1671. 

LA    SALLE    AND    THE    SULPITIANS. 

The  French  in  Western  New  York.  —  Louis  Joliet.  —  The  Sulpi- 
tians  on  Lake  Erie  ;  at  Detroit ;  at  Saut  Ste.  Marie.  —  The 
Mystery  of  La  Salle :  he  discovers  the  Ohio ;  he  descends 
the  Illinois  ;  did  he  reach  the  Mississippi  7 19 

CHAPTER  III. 

1670-1672. 

THE   JESUITS    ON    THE    LAKES. 

The  Old  Missions  and  the  New.  — A  Change  of  Spirit.  —  Lake 
Superior  and  the  Copper-mines.  —  Ste.  Marie.  —  La  Pointe.  — 
Michilimackinac.  —  Jesuits  on  Lake  Michigan.  —  Allouez 
and  Dablon.  —  The  Jesuit  Fur-trade 36 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1667-1672. 

france  takes  possession  of  the  west. 

Paok 
Talon. —  Sfiiut-Lusson. — Porrot. — The  Ceremony  at  Saiit  Sto. 

Mario  —  The  Speccli  of  Allouez.  —  Count  Frontenac    ...      48 

CHAPTER   V. 
1672-1675. 

THE    DISCOVERY    OF   THE    MISSISSIPPI. 

Jolict  sent  to  fiml  the  Mississippi.  —  Jacques  Marquette.  —  De- 
parture.—  Green  Bay. — The  Wiscon.sin. — The  Mississippi. 
—  Indians.  —  Manitous. — Tlie  Arkansas.  — The  Illinois. — 
Joliet's  Misfortune.  —  Marquette  at  Chicago  :  his  Illness ; 
his  Death 57 

CHAPTER  VI. 

1673-1678. 

LA    SALLE    AND    FRONTENAC. 

Ohjects  of  La  Salle.  —  Frontenac  favors  him.  —  Projects  of  Fron- 
tenac. —  Cataraqui.  —  Frontenac  on  Lake  Ontario.  —  Fort 
Frontenac.  —  La  Salle  and  Fcnelon.  —  Success  of  La  Salle : 
his  Enemies       83 

CHAPTER  VII. 

1678. 

PARTY    STRIFE. 

La  Salle  and  his  Reporter.  —  Jesuit  Ascendency.  —  The  Missions 
and  the  Fur-trade.  —  Female  Inquisitors.  —  Plots  against  La 
Salle:  his  Brother  the  Priest. — Intrigues  of  the  Jesuits. — 
La  Salle  poisoned  :  he  exculpates  the  Jesuits.  —  Renewed 
Intrigues 106 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

1677,  1678. 

the  grand  enterprise. 

Page 
La  Salle  at  Fort  Frontenac.  —  La  Salle  at  Court :  his  Memo- 
rial. —  Approval  of  the  King.  —  Money  aud  Meaus.  —  Ileuri 
de  Tonty.  —  Return  to  Canada 120 

CHAPTER   IX. 

1678-1679. 

LA    SALLE    AT    NIAGARA. 

Father  Louis  Hennepin  :  his  Past  Life  ;  his  Character.  —  Em- 
barkatiou.  —  Niagara  Falls.  —  Indian  Jealousy.  —  La  Motte 
aud  the  Senecas.  —  A  Disaster.  —  La  Salle  and  his  Followers     131 

CHAPTER   X. 

1679. 

THE    LAUNCH    OF   THE    "  GRIFFIN." 

The  Niagara  Portage.  —  A  Vessel  on  the  Stocks.  —  Suffering 
and  Discontent.  —  La  Salle's  Wintw  Journey.  —  The  Vessel 
launched.  —  Fresh  Disasters 144 

CHAPTER   XI. 

1679. 

LA    SALLE    ON    THE    UPPER    LAKES. 

The  Voyage  of  the  "  Griffin."  —  Detroit.  —  A  Storm.  —  St.  Ignace 
of  Michilimackinac.  —  Rivals  and  Enemies.  —  Lake  IMich- 
igan.  —  Hardships.  —  A  Threatened  Fight.  —  Fort  Miami.  — 
Tonty's  Misfortunes. — Forebodings 15i 

CHAPTER   XIL 

1679,  1680. 

LA    SALLE    ON   THE    ILLINOIS. 

The  St.  Joseph.  —  Adventure  of  La  Salle.  —  The  Prairies.  — 
Famine.  —  The  Great  Town  of  the  Illinois.  —  Indians.  —  In- 
trigues. —  Difficulties.  —  Policy  of  La  Salle.  —  Desertion.  — 
Another  Attempt  to  poison  La  Salle 164 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  Xni. 

1680. 

FORT    CRivECffiCB. 

Page 
Building  of  the  Fort.  —  Loss  of  the  "  Griffin."  —  A  Bold  Resolu- 
tion. —  Another  Vessel.  —  Hennepin  sent  to  the  Mississippi. 

—  Departure  of  La  Salle 180 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
1680. 

HAKDIHOOD    OF    LA    SALLE. 

The  Winter  Journey.  —  The  Deserted  Town.  —  Starved  Rock.  — 
Lake  Michigan.  —  The  Wilderness.  —  War  Parties.  —  La 
Salle's  Men  give  out.  —  111  Tidings.  —  Mutiny.  —  Chastise- 
ment of  the  Mutineers 189 

CHAPTER   XV. 
1680. 

INDIAN    CONQUEEOKS. 

The  Enterprise  renewed.  —  Attempt  to  rescue  Tonty.  —  Buffalo. 

—  A  Frightful  Discovery.  —  Iroquois  Fury.  —  The  Ruined 
Town.  —  A  Night  of  Horror.  —  Traces  of  the  Invaders.  — 

No  News  of  Tonty 202 

CHAPTER  XVL 

1680. 

TONTY    AND    THE    IROQUOIS. 

The  Deserters.  —  The  Iroquois  War.  —  The  Great  Town  of  the 
Illinois.  —  The  Alarm.  —  Onset  of  the  Iroquois.  —  Peril  of 
Tonty.  —  A  Treacherous  Truce.  —  Intrepidity  of  Tonty.  — 
Murder  of  Ribourde.  —  War  upon  the  Dead 216 

CHAPTER   XVII. 
1680. 

THE  ADVENTURES  OF  HENNEPIN. 

Ilonnepin  an  Impostor :  his  Pretended  Discovery ;  his  Actual 
Discovery ;  captured  by  the  Sioux.  —  The  Upper  Mississippi  .     242 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

VOLUME  ONE. 
La  Salle  presenting  a  Petition  to  Louis  XIV.     Frontispiece 

Goupilgravure  facsimile  in  color  of  the  drawing  by  Adrien  Moreau. 

Facsimile  of  Two  Pages  of  the  Manuscript  of 
THE  First  Edition  of  "  La  Salle  and  the  Dis- 
covery OF  the  Great  West  " Page   x 

The  only  one  of  Mr.  Parkman's  books  in  his  own  handwriting,  the 
remaining  volumes  having  been  dictated. 

-Countries   traversed    by   Marquette,   Hennepin, 

AND  La  Salle "        3 

Jean  Talon "      48 

From  the  original  painting  in  the  Hotel  Dieu,  Quebec. 

La  Salle  presenting  a  Petition   to  Louis  XIV.      "     100 

From  the  drawing  by  Adrien  Moreau. 

Father  Hennepin  celebrating  Mass "132 

From  the  drawing  by  Howard  Pyle. 

First  Picture  of  Niagara "    140 

From  Hennepin's  ^^Nouvelle  Dicouverte  d'un  iris  grand  Pays  situi 
dans  V Am&rique,  Utrecht,  1697." 

Starved  Rock,  on  the  Illinois  River "168 

Prom  the  photograph  referred  to  by  the  author. 


LA  SALLE 


DISCOVERY   OF  THE   GREAT  WEST. 


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DISCOYEEY  OF  THE  GEEAT  WEST. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  Spaniards  discovered  the  Mississippi.  De 
Soto  was  buried  beneath  its  waters ;  and  it  was  down 
its  muddy  current  that  his  followers  fled  from  the 
Eldorado  of  their  dreams,  transformed  to  a  wilderness 
of  misery  and  death.  The  discovery  was  never  used, 
and  was  well-nigh  forgotten.  On  early  Spanish 
maps,  the  Mississippi  is  often  indistinguishable  from 
other  affluents  of  the  Gulf.  A  century  passed  after 
De  Soto's  journeyings  in  the  South,  before  a  French 
explorer  reached  a  northern  tributary  of  the  great 
river. 

This  was  Jean  Nicollet,  interpreter  at  Three  Rivers 
on  the  St.  Lawrence.  He  had  been  some  twenty 
years  in  Canada,  had  lived  among  the  savage 
Algonquins  of  Allumette  Island,  and  spent  eight  or 
nine  years  among  the  Nipissings,  on  the  lake  which 
bears  their  name.     Here  he  became  an  Indian  in  all 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

his   habits,    but    remained,    nevertheless,    a  zealous 
Catholic,  and  returned  to  civilization  at  last  because 
he  could  not  live  without  the  sacraments.     Strange 
stories  were  current  among  the  Nipissings  of  a  people 
\vithout  hair  or  beard,  who  came  from  the  West  to 
trade  with  a  tribe  beyond  the  Great  Lakes.     Who 
could  doubt  that  these  strangers   were   Chinese   or 
Japanese?    Such    tales    may    well     have     excited 
Nicollet's  curiosity;  and  when,  in  1635,  or  possibly 
in  1638,  he  was  sent  as  an  ambassador  to  the  tribe 
in  question,  he  would  not  have  been  surprised  if  on 
arriving  he  had  found  a  party  of  mandarins  among 
them.     Perhaps  it  was  with  a  view  to  such  a  contin- 
gency that  he  provided  himself,  as  a  dress  of  cere- 
mony, with  a  robe  of  Chinese  damask  embroidered 
with  birds  and  flowers.     The  tribe  to  which  he  was 
sent  was  that  of  the  Winnebagoes,  living  near  the 
head  of   the  Green  Bay  of  Lake  Michigan.      They 
had  come  to  blows  with  the  Hurons,  allies  of  the 
French;  and   Nicollet  was   charged   to   negotiate   a 
peace.     When  he  approached  the  Winnebago  town, 
he  sent  one  of  his  Indian  attendants  to  announce  his 
coming,  put  on  his  robe  of  damask,  and  advanced  to 
meet  the  expectant  crowd  with  a  pistol  in  each  hand. 
The  squaws  and  children  fled,  screaming  that  it  was 
a  manito,  or  spirit,   armed  with  thunder  and  light- 
ning; but  the  chiefs  and  warriors  regaled  him  with 
so  bountiful  a  hospitality  that  a  hundred  and  twenty 
beavers  were  devoured  at  a  single  feast.     From  the 
Wimiebagoes,    he   passed   westward,    ascended   Fox 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

River,  crossed  to  the  Wisconsin,  and  descended  it 
so  far  that,  as  he  reported  on  his  return,  in  three 
days  more  he  would  have  reached  the  sea.  The  truth 
seems  to  be  that  he  mistook  the  meaning  of  his  Indian 
guides,  and  that  the  "great  water"  to  which  he  was 
so  near  was  not  the  sea,  but  the  Mississippi. 

It  has  been  affirmed  that  one  Colonel  Wood,  of 
Virginia,  reached  a  branch  of  the  Mississippi  as  early 
as  the  year  1654,  and  that  about  1670  a  certain 
Captain  Bolton  penetrated  to  the  river  itself.  Neither 
statement  is  sustained  by  sufficient  evidence.  It  is 
further  affirmed  that,  in  1678,  a  party  from  New 
England  crossed  the  Mississippi,  reached  New 
Mexico,  and,  returning,  reported  their  discoveries  to 
the  authorities  of  Boston,  —  a  story  without  proof  or 
probability.  Meanwhile,  French  Jesuits  and  fur- 
traders  pushed  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  wilder- 
ness of  the  northern  lakes.  In  1641,  Jogues  and 
Raymbault  preached  the  Faith  to  a  concourse  of 
Indians  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Superior.  Then  came 
the  havoc  and  desolation  of  the  Iroquois  war,  and  for 
years  farther  exploration  was  arrested.  In  1658-59 
Pierre  Esprit  Radisson,  a  Frenchman  of  St.  Malo. 
and  his  brother-in-law,  Mddard  Chouart  des  Groseil- 
liers,  penetrated  the  regions  beyond  Lake  Superior, 
and  roamed  westward  till,  as  Radisson  declares,  they 
reached  what  was  called  the  Forked  River,  "  because 
it  has  two  branches,  the  one  towards  the  west,  the 
other  towards  the  south,  which,  we  believe,  runs 
towards   Mexico,"  —  which    seems   to   point  to  the 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

Mississippi  and  its  great  confluent  the  Missouri. 
Two  years  later,  the  aged  Jesuit  Mdnard  attempted 
to  plant  a  mission  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake 
Superior,  but  perished  in  the  forest  by  famine  or  the 
tomahawk.  Allouez  succeeded  him,  explored  a  part 
of  Lake  Superior,  and  heard,  in  his  turn,  of  the 
Sioux  and  their  great  river  the  "Messipi."  More 
and  more,  the  thoughts  of  the  Jesuits  —  and  not  of 
the  Jesuits  alone  —  dwelt  on  this  mysterious  stream. 
Through  what  regions  did  it  flow;  and  whither 
would  it  lead  them,  —  to  the  South  Sea  or  the 
"Sea  of  Virginia;"  to  Mexico,  Japan,  or  China? 
The  problem  was  soon  to  be  solved,  and  the  mystery 
revealed. 


CHAPTER   I. 

1643-1669. 

CAVELIER  DE   LA  SALLE. 

The  Youth  of  La  Salle  :  his  Connection  with  the  Jesuits  ; 
HE  goes  to  Canada  ;  his  Character  ;  his  Schemes  ;  his  Seign- 
iory AT  La  Chine  ;  his  Expedition  in  Search  of  a  Western 
Passage  to  India. 

Among  the  burghers  of  Rouen  was  the  old  and  rich 
family  of  the  Caveliers.  Though  citizens  and  not 
nobles,  some  of  their  connections  held  high  diplo- 
matic posts  and  honorable  employments  at  Court. 
They  were  destined  to  find  a  better  claim  to  distinc- 
tion. In  1643  was  born  at  Rouen  Robert  Cavelier, 
better  known  by  the  designation  of  La  Salle.  ^  His 
father  Jean  and  his  uncle  Henri  were  wealthy  mer- 

1  The  following  is  the  acte  de  naissance,  discovered  by  Margry  in 
the  registres  de  I'etat  civil,  Paroisse  St.  Herbland,  Rouen :  "  Le  vingt- 
deuxieme  jour  de  novembre,  1643,  a  ete  baptise'  Robert  Cavelier,  fiis 
de  honorable  homme  Jean  Cavelier  et  de  Catherine  Geest ;  ses  par- 
rain  et  marraine  honorables  personnes  Nicolas  Geest  et  Marguerite 
Morice." 

La  Salle's  name  in  full  was  R^ne-Robert  Cavelier,  Sieur  de  la 
Salle.  La  Salle  was  the  name  of  an  estate  near  Rouen,  belonging 
to  the  Caveliers.  The  wealthy  French  burghers  often  distinguished 
the  various  members  of  their  families  by  designations  borrowed 
from  landed  estates.  Thus,  Franc^ois  Marie  Arouet,  son  of  an 
ex-notary,  received  the  name  of  Voltaire,  which  he  made  famous. 


8  CAVELIER   DE   LA   SALLE.  [1G66. 

chants,  living  more  like  nobles  than  like  burghers; 
and  the  boy  received  an  education  answering  to  the 
marked  traits  of  intellect  and  character  which  he  soon 
began  to  display.  He  showed  an  inclination  for  the 
exact  sciences,  and  especially  for  the  mathematics,  in 
which  he  made  great  proficiency.  At  an  early  age, 
it  is  said,  he  became  connected  with  the  Jesuits; 
and,  though  doubt  has  been  expressed  of  the  state- 
ment, it  is  probably  true.^ 

La  Salle  was  always  an  earnest  Catholic ;  and  yet, 
judging  by  the  qualities  which  his  after-life  evinced, 
he  was  not  very  liable  to  religious  enthusiasm.  It  is 
nevertheless  clear  that  the  Society  of  Jesus  may  have 
had  a  powerful  attraction  for  his  youthful  imagina- 
tion. This  great  organization,  so  complicated  yet  so 
harmonious,  a  mighty  machine  moved  from  the  centre 
l3y  a  single  hand,  was  an  image  of  regulated  power, 
full  of  fascination  for  a  mind  like  his.  But  if  it  was 
likely  that  he  would  be  drawn  into  it,  it  was  no  less 
likely  that  he  would  soon  wish  to  escape.     To  find 

1  Margry,  after  investigations  at  Rouen,  is  satisfied  of  its  truth. 
{Journal  General  de  l' Instruction  Publir/ne,  xxxi.  571.)  Family  papers 
of  the  Caveliers,  examined  by  the  Abbe'  Faillon,  and  copies  of  some 
of  which  he  has  sent  to  me,  lead  to  the  same  conclusion.  We  shall 
find  several  allusions  hereafter  to  La  Salle's  having  in  his  youth 
taught  in  a  school,  which,  in  his  position,  could  only  have  been  in 
connection  with  some  religious  community.  The  doubts  alluded  to 
liave  proceeded  from  the  failure  of  Father  Felix  Martin,  S.  J.,  to 
find  the  name  of  La  Salle  on  the  list  of  novices.  If  he  had  looked 
for  the  name  of  Robert  Cavelier,  he  would  probably  have  found  it. 
The  companion  of  La  Salle,  Hennepin,  is  very  explicit  with  regard 
to  this  connection  with  the  Jesuits,  a  point  on  which  he  had  no 
motive  for  falsehood. 


1666.]  LA  SALLE  AND  THE  JESUITS.  9 

himself  not  at  the  centre  of  power,  but  at  the  circum- 
ference; not  the  mover,  but  the  moved;  the  passive 
instrument  of  another's  will,  taught  to  walk  in  pre- 
scribed paths,  to  renounce  his  individuality  and 
become  a  component  atom  of  a  vast  whole,  —  would 
have  been  intolerable  to  him.  Nature  had  shaped 
him  for  other  uses  than  to  teach  a  class  of  boys  on 
the  benches  of  a  Jesuit  school.  Nor,  on  his  part, 
was  he  likely  to  please  his  directors;  for,  self -con- 
trolled and  self-contained  as  he  was,  he  was  far  too 
intractable  a  subject  to  serve  their  turn.  A  youth 
whose  calm  exterior  hid  an  inexhaustible  fund  of 
pride;  whose  inflexible  purposes,  nursed  in  secret, 
the  confessional  and  the  "  manifestation  of  conscience  " 
could  hardly  drag  to  the  light;  whose  strong  person- 
ality would  not  yield  to  the  shaping  hand;  and  who, 
by  a  necessity  of  his  nature,  could  obey  no  initiative 
but  his  own,  —  was  not  after  the  model  that  Loyola 
had  commended  to  his  followers. 

La  Salle  left  the  Jesuits,  parting  with  them,  it  is 
said,  on  good  terms,  and  with  a  reputation  of  excel- 
lent acquirements  and  unimpeachable  morals.  This 
last  is  very  credible.  The  cravings  of  a  deep  ambi- 
tion, the  hunger  of  an  insatiable  intellect,  the  intense 
longing  for  action  and  achievement,  subdued  in  him 
all  other  passions ;  and  in  his  faults  the  love  of  pleasure 
had  no  part.  He  had  an  elder  brother  in  Canada, 
the  Abbd  Jean  Cavelier,  a  priest  of  St.  Sulpice. 
Apparently,  it  was  this  that  shaped  his  destinies. 
His  connection  with  the  Jesuits  had  deprived  him. 


10  CAVELIER   DE   LA   SALLE.  [1666. 

under  the  French  law,  of  the  inheritance  of  his 
father,  who  had  died  not  long  before.  An  allowance 
was  made  to  him  of  three  or  (as  is  elsewhere  stated) 
four  hundred  livres  a  year,  the  capital  of  which  was 
paid  over  to  him ;  and  with  this  pittance  he  sailed  for 
Canada,  to  seek  his  fortune,  in  the  spring  of  1666.^ 

Next,  we  find  him  at  Montreal.  In  another 
volume,  we  have  seen  how  an  association  of  enthu- 
siastic devotees  had  made  a  settlement  at  this  place. ^ 
Having  in  some  measure  accomplished  its  work,  it 
was  now  dissolved;  and  the  corporation  of  priests, 
styled  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  which  had  taken 
a  prominent  part  in  the  enterprise,  and,  indeed,  had 
been  created  with  a  view  to  it,  was  now  the  proprietor 
and  the  feudal  lord  of  Montreal.  It  was  destined  to 
retain  its  seignorial  rights  until  the  abolition  of  the 
feudal  tenures  of  Canada  in  our  own  day,  and  it  still 
holds  vast  possessions  in  the  city  and  island.  These 
worthy  ecclesiastics,  models  of  a  discreet  and  sober 
conservatism,  were  holding  a  post  with  which  a 
band  of  veteran  soldiers  or  warlike  frontiersmen 
would  have  been  better  matched.  Montreal  was  per- 
haps the  most  dangerous  place  in  Canada.     In  time 


1  It  does  not  appear  what  vows  La  Salle  had  taken.  By  a  recent 
ordinance  (1666),  persons  entering  religious  orders  could  not  take 
the  final  vows  before  the  age  of  twenty-five.  By  the  family  papers 
above  mentioned,  it  appears,  however,  that  he  had  brought  himself 
under  the  operation  of  the  law,  which  debarred  those  who,  having 
entered  religious  orders,  afterwards  withdrew,  from  claiming  the 
inheritance  of  relatives  who  had  died  after  their  entrance. 

*  The  Jesuits  in  North  America,  ii.  chap.  i. 


1666.]  LA   SALLE  AT  MONTREAL.  11 

of  war,  which  might  have  been  called  the  normal 
condition  of  the  colony,  it  was  exposed  by  its  posi- 
tion to  incessant  inroads  of  the  Iroquois,  or  Five 
Nations,  of  New  York;  and  no  man  could  venture 
into  the  forests  or  the  fields  without  bearing  his  life 
in  his  hand.  The  savage  confederates  had  just 
received  a  sharp  chastisement  at  the  hands  of 
Courcelle,  the  governor;  and  the  result  was  a  treaty 
of  peace  which  might  at  any  moment  be  broken,  but 
which  was  an  inexpressible  relief  while  it  lasted. 

The  priests  of  St.  Sulpice  were  granting  out  their 
lands,  on  very  easy  terms,  to  settlers.  They  wished 
to  extend  a  thin  line  of  settlements  along  the  front  of 
their  island,  to  form  a  sort  of  outpost,  from  which  an 
alarm  could  be  given  on  any  descent  of  the  Iroquois. 
La  Salle  was  the  man  for  such  a  purpose.  Had  the 
priests  understood  him,  —  which  they  evidently  did 
not,  for  some  of  them  suspected  him  of  levity,  the 
last  foible  with  which  he  could  be  charged,  —  had 
they  understood  him,  they  would  have  seen  in  him  a 
young  man  in  whom  the  fire  of  youth  glowed  not  the 
less  ardently  for  the  veil  of  reserve  that  covered  it; 
who  would  shrink  from  no  danger,  but  would  not 
court  it  in  bravado;  and  who  would  cling  with  an 
invincible  tenacity  of  gripe  to  any  purpose  which  he 
might  espouse.  There  is  good  reason  to  think  that 
he  had  come  to  Canada  with  purposes  already  con- 
ceived, and  that  he  was  ready  to  avail  himself  of 
any  stepping-stone  which  might  help  to  realize  them. 
Queylus,    Superior  of    the   Seminary,    made   him  a 


12  CAVELIER  DE  LA  SALLE.  [1666. 

generous  offer;  and  he  accepted  it.  This  was  the 
gratuitous  grant  of  a  large  tract  of  land  at  the  place 
now  called  La  Chine,  above  the  great  rapids  of  the 
same  name,  and  eight  or  nine  miles  from  Montreal. 
On  one  hand,  the  place  was  greatly  exposed  to 
attack;  and,  on  the  other,  it  was  favorably  situated 
for  the  fur-trade.  La  Salle  and  his  successors  became 
its  feudal  proprietors,  on  the  sole  condition  of  deliver- 
ing to  the  Seminary,  on  every  change  of  ownership, 
a  medal  of  fine  silver,  weighing  one  mark.^  He 
entered  on  the  improvement  of  his  new  domain  with 
what  means  he  could  command,  and  began  to  grant 
out  his  land  to  such  settlers  as  would  join  him. 

Approaching  the  shore  where  the  city  of  Montreal 
now  stands,  one  would  have  seen  a  row  of  small 
compact  dwellings,  extending  along  a  narrow  street, 
parallel  to  the  river,  and  then,  as  now,  called  St. 
Paul  Street.  On  a  hill  at  the  right  stood  the  wind- 
mill of  the  seigniors,  built  of  stone,  and  pierced  with 
loopholes  to  serve,  in  time  of  need,  as  a  place  of 
defence.  On  the  left,  in  an  angle  formed  by  the 
junction  of  a  rivulet  with  the  St.  Lawrence,  was  a 
square  bastioned  fort  of  stone.  Here  lived  the 
military  governor,  appointed  by  the  Seminary,  and 
commanding  a  few  soldiers  of  the  regiment  of 
Carignan.  In  front,  on  the  line  of  the  street,  were 
the  enclosure  and  buildings  of  the  Seminary,   and, 

1  Transport  de  la  Seigneurie  de  St.  Sulpice,  cited  by  Faillon.  La 
Salle  callerl  his  new  domain  as  above.  Two  or  three  years  later,  it 
received  the  name  of  La  Chine,  for  a  reason  which  will  appear. 


1667.]  LA  CHINE.  13 

nearly  adjoining  them,  those  of  the  Hotel-Dieu,  or 
Hospital,  both  provided  for  defence  in  case  of  an 
Indian  attack.  In  the  hospital  enclosure  was  a  small 
church,  opening  on  the  street,  and,  in  the  absence  of 
any  other,  serving  for  the  whole  settlement.^ 

Landing,  passing  the  fort,  and  walking  southward 
along  the  shore,  one  would  soon  have  left  the  rough 
clearings,  and  entered  the  primeval  forest.  Here, 
mile  after  mile,  he  would  have  journeyed  on  in  soli- 
tude, when  the  hoarse  roar  of  the  rapids,  foaming  in 
fuiy  on  his  left,  would  have  reached  his  listening 
ear;  and  at  length,  after  a  walk  of  some  three  hours, 
he  would  have  found  the  rude  beginnings  of  a  settle- 
ment. It  was  where  the  St.  Lawrence  widens  into 
the  broad  expanse  called  the  Lake  of  St.  Louis. 
Here,  La  Salle  had  traced  out  the  circuit  of  a  pali- 
saded village,  and  assigned  to  each  settler  half  an 
arpent,  or  about  the  third  of  an  acre,  within  the 
enclosure,  for  which  he  was  to  render  to  the  young 
seignior  a  yearly  acknowledgment  of  three  capons, 
besides  six  deniers  —  that  is,  half  a  sou  —  in  money. 
To  each  was  assigned,  moreover,  sixty  arpents  of 
land  beyond  the  limits  of  the  village,  with  the  per- 
petual rent  of  half  a  sou  for  each  arpent.  He  also 
set  apart  a  common,  two  hundred  arpents  in  extent, 
for  the  use  of  the  settlers,  on  condition  of  the  pay- 

1  A  detailed  plan  of  Montreal  at  this  time  is  preserved  in  the 
Archives  de  I'Empire,  and  has  been  reproduced  by  Faillon.  There 
is  another,  a  few  years  later,  and  still  more  minute,  of  which  a  fac- 
simile will  be  found  in  the  Library  of  the  Canadian  Parliament. 


14  CAVELIER  DE  LA  SALLE.  [1668. 

ment  by  each  of  five  sous  a  year.  He  reserved  four 
hundred  and  twenty  arpents  for  his  own  personal 
domain,  and  on  this  he  began  to  clear  the  ground 
and  erect  buildings.  Similar  to  this  were  the  begin- 
nings of  all  the  Canadian  seigniories  formed  at  this 
troubled  period.  ^ 

That  La  Salle  came  to  Canada  with  objects  dis- 
tinctly in  view,  is  probable  from  the  fact  that  he  at 
once  began  to  study  the  Indian  languages,  —  and 
with  such  success  that  he  is  said,  within  two  or  three 
years,  to  have  mastered  the  Iroquois  and  seven  or 
eight  other  languages  and  dialects.  ^  From  the  shore 
of  his  seigniory,  he  could  gaze  westward  over  the 
broad  breast  of  the  Lake  of  St.  Louis,  bounded  by 
the  dim  forests  of  Chateauguay  and  Beauharnois; 
but  his  thoughts  flew  far  beyond,  across  the  wild  and 
lonely  world  that  stretched  towards  the  sunset.  Like 
Champlain,  and  all  the  early  explorers,  he  dreamed 
of  a  passage  to  the  South  Sea,  and  a  new  road  for 
commerce  to  the  riches  of  China  and  Japan.  Indians 
often  came  to  his  secluded  settlement;  and,  on  one 
occasion,  he  was  visited  by  a  band  of  the  Seneca 
Iroquois,  not  long  before  the  scourge  of  the  colony, 
but  now,  in  virtue  of  the  treaty,  wearing  the  sem- 

1  The  above  particulars  have  been  unearthed  by  the  indefatigable 
Abbe  Faillon.  Some  of  La  Salle's  grants  are  still  preserved  in  the 
ancient  records  of  Montreal. 

2  Papiers  de  Famille.  He  is  said  to  have  made  several  journeys 
into  the  forests,  towards  the  North,  in  the  years  1G67  and  1668,  and 
to  have  satisfied  himself  that  little  could  be  hoped  from  explorations 
in  that  direction. 


1669.]  SCHEMES  OF  DISCOVERY.  15 

blance  of  friendship.  The  visitors  spent  the  winter 
with  him,  and  told  him  of  a  river  called  the  Ohio, 
rising  in  their  country,  and  flowing  into  the  sea,  but 
at  such  a  distance  that  its  mouth  could  only  be 
reached  after  a  journey  of  eight  or  nine  months. 
Evidently,  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  are  here 
merged  into  one.^  In  accordance  with  geographical 
views  then  prevalent,  he  conceived  that  this  great 
river  must  needs  flow  into  the  "Vermilion  Sea;" 
that  is,  the  Gulf  of  California.  If  so,  it  would  give 
him  what  he  sought,  a  western  passage  to  China; 
while,  in  any  case,  the  populous  Indian  tribes  said 
to  inhabit  its  banks  might  be  made  a  source  of  great 
commercial  profit. 

La  Salle's  imagination  took  fire.  His  resolution 
was  soon  formed;  and  he  descended  the  St.  Lawrence 
to  Quebec,  to  gain  the  countenance  of  the  governor 
for  his  intended  exploration.  Few  men  were  more 
skilled  than  he  in  the  art  of  clear  and  plausible  state- 
ment. Both  the  governor  Courcelle  and  the  intendant 
Talon  were  readily  won  over  to  his  plan ;  for  which, 
however,  they  seem  to  have  given  him  no  more  sub- 
stantial aid  than  that  of  the  governor's  letters  patent 
authorizing  the  enterprise. ^  The  cost  was  to  be  his 
own;  and  he  had  no  money,  having  spent  it  all  on 
his  seigniory.     He  therefore  proposed  that  the  Semi- 

1  According  to  DoUier  de  Casson,  who  had  good  opportunities  of 
knowing,  the  Iroquois  always  called  the  Mississippi  the  Ohio,  while 
the  Algonquins  gave  it  its  present  name. 

2  Patoulet  a  Colbert,  11  Nov.,  1669. 


16  CAVELIER  DE  LA   SALLE.  [1669. 

nary,  which  had  given  it  to  him,  should  buy  it  back 
again,  with  such  improvements  as  he  liad  made. 
Queylus,  the  Superior,  being  favorably  disposed 
towards  him,  consented,  and  bought  of  him  the 
greater  part;  while  La  Salle  sold  the  remainder, 
including  the  clearings,  to  one  Jean  Milot,  an  iron- 
monger, for  twenty-eight  hundred  livres.^  With 
tliis  he  bought  four  canoes,  witli  the  necessary  sup- 
plies, and  hired  fourteen  men. 

Meanwhile,  the  Seminary  itself  was  preparing  a 
similar  enterprise.  The  Jesuits  at  this  time  not  only 
held  an  ascendency  over  the  other  ecclesiastics  in 
Canada,  but  exercised  an  inordinate  influence  on  the 
civil  government.  The  Seminary  priests  of  Montreal 
were  jealous  of  these  powerful  rivals,  and  eager  to 
emulate  their  zeal  in  the  saving  of  souls  and  the  con- 
quering of  new  domains  for  the  Faith.  Under  this 
impulse,  they  had,  three  years  before,  established  a 
mission  at  Quints,  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario,  in  charge  of  two  of  their  number,  one  of 
whom  was  the  Abbd  Fdnelon,  elder  brother  of  the 
celebrated  Archbishop  of  Cambray.  Another  of 
them,  Dollier  de  Casson,  had  spent  the  winter  in  a 
hunting-camp  of  the  Nipissings,  where  an  Indian 
prisoner,  captured  in  the  Northwest,  told  him  of 
populous  tribes  of  that  quarter  living  in  heathenish 
darkness.  On  tliis,  the  Seminary  priests  resolved  to 
essay  their  conversion;  and  an  expedition,  to  be 
directed  by  Dollier,  was  fitted  out  to  this  end. 

1  Cession  de  la  Seigneurie ;  Contrat  de  Vente  (Margry,  i.  103,  104). 


1669.]  DEPARTURE.  17 

He  was  not  ill  suited  to  the  purpose.  He  had 
been  a  soldier  in  his  youth,  and  had  fought  valiantly 
as  an  officer  of  cavalry  under  Turenne.  He  was  a 
man  of  great  courage ;  of  a  tall,  commanding  person ; 
and  of  uncommon  bodily  strength,  which  he  had 
notably  proved  in  the  campaign  of  Courcelle  against 
the  Iroquois,  three  years  before.^  On  going  to 
Quebec  to  procure  the  necessary  outfit,  he  was  urged 
by  Courcelle  to  modify  his  plans  so  far  as  to  act  in 
concert  with  La  Salle  in  exploring  the  mystery  of  the 
great  unknown  river  of  the  West.  DoUier  and  his 
brother  priests  consented.  One  of  them,  Gahnde, 
was  joined  with  him  as  a  colleague,  because  he  was 
skilled  in  surveying,  and  could  make  a  map  of  their 
route.  Three  canoes  were  procured,  and  seven  hired 
men  completed  the  party.  It  was  determined  that 
La  SaUe's  expedition  and  that  of  the  Seminary 
should  be  combined  in  one,  —  an  arrangement  ill 
suited  to  the  character  of  the  young  explorer,  who 
was  unfit  for  any  enterprise  of  which  he  was  not  the 
undisputed  chief. 

Midsummer  was  near,  and  there  was  no  time  to 
lose.  Yet  the  moment  was  most  unjDropitious,  for  a 
Seneca  chief  had  lately  been  murdered  by  three 
scoundrel  soldiers  of  the  fort  of  Montreal ;  and,  while 
they  were  undergoing  their  trial,  it  became  known 

1  He  was  the  author  of  the  very  curious  and  valuable  Histoire 
de  Montreal,  preserved  in  the  Bibliotheque  Mazarine,  of  which  a 
copy  is  in  my  possession.  The  Historical  Society  of  Montreal  has 
recently  resolved  to  print  it. 

VOL.  I.  —  2 


18  CAVELIER  DE  LA   SALLE.  [1669. 

that  three  other  Frenchmen  had  treacherously  put  to 
death  several  Iroquois  of  the  Oneida  tribe,  in  order 
to  get  possession  of  their  furs.  The  whole  colony 
trembled  in  expectation  of  a  new  outbreak  of  the 
war.  Happily,  the  event  proved  otherwise.  The 
authors  of  the  last  murder  escaped;  but  the  three 
soldiers  were  shot  at  Montreal,  in  presence  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  Iroquois,  who  declared 
themselves  satisfied  with  the  atonement;  and  on  this 
same  day,  the  sixth  of  July,  the  adventurers  began 
their  voyage. 


CHAPTER  II. 

1669-1671. 

LA  SALLE  AND  THE  SULPITIANS. 

The  French  in  Western  New  York.  —  Louis  Joliet.  —  The  Sol- 
piTiANS  ON  Lake  Erie;  at  Detroit;  at  Saut  Ste.  Marie. — 
The  Mystery  of  La  Salle  :  he  discovers  the  Ohio  ;  he 
descends  the  Illinois  ;   did  he  reach  the  Mississippi  1 

La  Chine  was  the  starting-point;  and  the  com- 
bined parties,  in  all  twenty-four  men  with  seven 
canoes,  embarked  on  the  Lake  of  St.  Louis.  With 
them  were  two  other  canoes,  bearing  the  party  of 
Senecas  who  had  wintered  at  La  Salle's  settlement, 
and  who  were  now  to  act  as  guides.  Father  Galinde 
recounts  the  journey.  He  was  no  woodsman:  the 
river,  the  forests,  the  rapids,  were  all  new  to  him, 
and  he  dilates  on  them  with  the  minuteness  of  a 
novice.  Above  all,  he  admired  the  Indian  birch 
canoes.  "If  God,"  he  says,  "grants  me  the  grace 
of  returning  to  France,  I  shall  try  to  carry  one  with 
me."  Then  he  describes  the  bivouac:  "Your  lodg- 
ing is  as  extraordinary  as  your  vessels;  for,  after 
paddling  or  carry^ing  the  canoes  all  day,  you  find 
mother  earth  ready  to  receive  your  wearied  body. 
If  the  weather  is  fair,  you  make  a  fire  and  lie  down 


20  LA  SALLE  AND  THE  SULPITIANS.       [1669. 

to  sleep  without  further  trouble ;  but  if  it  rains,  you 
must  peel  bark  from  the  trees,  and  make  a  shed  by 
laying  it  on  a  frame  of  sticks.  As  for  your  food,  it 
is  enough  to  make  you  burn  all  the  cookery  books 
that  ever  were  written ;  for  in  the  woods  of  Canada 
one  finds  means  to  live  well  without  bread,  wine, 
salt,  pepper,  or  spice.  The  ordinary  food  is  Indian 
corn,  or  Turkey  wheat  as  they  call  it  in  France, 
which  is  crushed  between  two  stones  and  boiled, 
seasoning  it  with  meat  or  fish,  when  you  can  get 
them.  This  sort  of  life  seemed  so  strange  to  us  that 
we  all  felt  the  effects  of  it;  and  before  we  were  a 
hundred  leagues  from  Montreal,  not  one  of  us  was 
free  from  some  malady  or  other.  At  last,  after  all 
our  misery,  on  the  second  of  August,  we  discovered 
Lake  Ontario,  like  a  great  sea  with  no  land 
beyond  it." 

Thirty-five  days  after  leaving  La  Chine,  they 
reached  Irondequoit  Bay,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
lake.  Here  they  were  met  by  a  number  of  Seneca 
Indians,  who  professed  friendship  and  invited  them 
to  their  villages,  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  distant.  As 
this  was  on  their  way  to  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Ohio,  and  as  they  hoped  to  find  guides  at  the  villages 
to  conduct  them,  they  accepted  the  invitation. 
Dollier,  with  most  of  the  men,  remained  to  guard 
the  canoes;  while  La  Salle,  with  Galinde  and  eight 
other  Frenchmen,  accompanied  by  a  troop  of  Indians, 
set  out  on  the  morning  of  the  twelfth,  and  reached 
the  principal  village  before  evening.     It  stood  on  a 


1669.]  THE  SENECA  VILLAGES.  21 

hill,  in  the  midst  of  a  clearing  nearly  two  leagues  in 
compass.  1  A  rude  stockade  surrounded  it;  and  as 
the  visitors  drew  near  they  saw  a  band  of  old  men 
seated  on  the  grass,  waiting  to  receive  them.  One  of 
these  veterans,  so  feeble  with  age  that  he  could  hardly 
stand,  made  them  an  harangue,  in  which  he  declared 
that  the  Senecas  were  their  brothers,  and  invited 
them  to  enter  the  village.  They  did  so,  surrounded 
by  a  crowd  of  savages,  and  presently  found  them- 
selves in  the  midst  of  a  disorderly  cluster  of  large 
but  filthy  abodes  of  bark,  about  a  hundred  and  fifty 
in  number,  the  most  capacious  of  which  was  as- 
signed to  their  use.  Here  they  made  their  quarters, 
and  were  soon  overwhelmed  by  Seneca  hospitality. 
Children  brought  them  pumpkins  and  berries  from 
the  woods;  and  boy  messengers  came  to  summon 
them  to  endless  feasts,  where  they  were  regaled 
with  the  flesh  of  dogs  and  with  boiled  maize  seasoned 
with  oil  pressed  from  nuts  and  the  seed  of  sunflowers. 
La  Salle  had  flattered  himself  that  he  knew  enough 
Iroquois  to  hold  communication  with  the  Senecas; 
but  he  failed  completely  in  the  attempt.  The  priests 
had  a  Dutch  interpreter,  who  spoke  Iroquois  fluently, 
but  knew  so  little  French,  and  was  withal  so  obsti- 
nate, that  he  proved  useless ;  so  that  it  was  necessary 
to  employ  a  man  in  the  service  of  the  Jesuit  Fremin, 
whose  mission  was  at  tliis  village.  What  the  party 
needed  was  a  guide  to  conduct  them  to  the  Ohio ;  and 

1  This  village  seems  to  have  been  that  attacked  by  Denonvillc 
in  1G87.    It  stood  on  Boughton  Hill,  near  the  present  town  of  Victor. 


22  LA   SALLE   AND   THE   SULPITIANS.       [1669. 

soon  after  their  arrival  a  party  of  warriors  appeared, 
with  a  young  prisoner  belonging  to  one  of  the  tribes 
of  that  region.  Galinde  wanted  to  beg  or  buy  him 
from  his  captors;  but  the  Senecas  had  other  inten- 
tions. "I  saw,"  writes  the  priest,  "the  most  miser- 
able spectacle  I  ever  beheld  in  my  life."  It  was  the 
prisoner  tied  to  a  stake  and  tortured  for  six  hours 
with  diabolical  ingenuity,  while  the  crowd  danced 
and  yelled  with  delight,  and  the  chiefs  and  elders  sat 
in  a  row  smoking  their  pipes  and  watching  the  con- 
tortions of  the  victim  with  an  air  of  serene  enjoyment. 
The  body  was  at  last  cut  up  and  eaten,  and  in  the 
evening  the  whole  population  occupied  themselves  in 
scaring  away  the  angiy  ghost  by  beating  with  sticks 
against  the  bark  sides  of  the  lodges. 

La  Salle  and  his  companions  began  to  fear  for  their 
own  safety.  Some  of  their  hosts  wished  to  kill  them 
in  revenge  for  the  chief  murdered  near  Montreal; 
and  as  these  and  others  were  at  times  in  a  frenzy  of 
drunkenness,  the  position  of  the  French  became 
critical.  They  suspected  that  means  had  been  used 
to  prejudice  the  Senecas  against  them.  Not  only 
could  they  get  no  guides,  but  they  were  told  that  if 
they  went  to  the  Ohio  the  tribes  of  those  parts  would 
infallibly  kill  them.  Their  Dutch  interpreter  became 
disheartened  and  unmanageable,  and,  after  staying  a 
month  at  the  village,  the  hope  of  getting  farther  on 
their  way  seemed  less  than  ever.  Their  plan,  it 
was  clear,  must  be  changed;  and  an  Indian  from 
Otinawatawa,  a  kind  of  Iroquois  colony  at  the  head 


1669.]  LOUIS  JOLIET.  23 

of  Lake  Ontario,  offered  to  guide  them  to  liis  village 
and  show  them  a  better  way  to  the  Ohio.  They  left 
the  Senecas,  coasted  the  south  shore  of  the  lake, 
passed  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara,  where  they  heard 
the  distant  roar  of  the  cataract,  and  on  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  September  reached  Otinawatawa,  which 
was  a  few  miles  north  of  the  present  town  of 
Hamilton.  The  inhabitants  proved  friendly,  and  La 
Salle  received  the  welcome  present  of  a  Shawanoe 
prisoner,  who  told  them  that  the  Ohio  could  be 
reached  in  six  weeks,  and  that  he  would  guide  them 
to  it.  Delighted  at  this  good  fortune,  they  were 
about  to  set  out;  when  they  heard,  to  their  astonish- 
ment, of  the  arrival  of  two  other  Frenchmen  at  a 
neighboring  village. 

One  of  the  strangers  was  destined  to  hold  a  con- 
spicuous place  in  the  history  of  western  discovery. 
This  was  Louis  Joliet,  a  young  man  of  about  the  age 
of  La  Salle.  Like  him,  he  had  studied  for  the  priest- 
hood; but  the  world  and  the  wilderness  had  con- 
quered his  early  inclinations,  and  changed  him  to  an 
active  and  adventurous  fur-trader.  Talon  had  sent 
him  to  discover  and  explore  the  copper-mines  of 
Lake  Superior.  He  had  failed  in  the  attempt,  and 
was  now  returning.  His  Indian  guide,  afraid  of 
passing  the  Niagara  portage  lest  he  should  meet 
enemies,  had  led  him  from  Lake  Erie,  by  way  of 
Grand  River,  towards  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario; 
and  thus  it  was  that  he  met  La  Salle  and  the 
Sulpitians. 


24  LA  SALLE  AND  THE   SULPITIANS.      [1669. 

This  meeting  caused  a  change  of  plan.  Joliet 
showed  the  priests  a  map  which  he  had  made  of  such 
parts  of  the  Upper  Lakes  as  he  had  visited,  and  gave 
them  a  copy  of  it;  telling  them,  at  the  same  time,  of 
the  Pottawattamies  and  other  tribes  of  that  region  in 
grievous  need  of  spiritual  succor.  The  result  was  a 
determination  on  their  part  to  follow  the  route  which 
he  suggested,  notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  of 
La  Salle,  who  in  vain  reminded  them  that  the  Jesuits 
had  preoccupied  the  field,  and  would  regard  them  as 
intruders.  They  resolved  that  the  Pottawattamies 
should  no  longer  sit  in  darkness;  while,  as  for  the 
Mississippi,  it  could  be  reached,  as  they  conceived, 
with  less  risk  by  this  northern  route  than  by  that  of 
the  south. 

La  Salle  was  of  a  different  mind.  His  goal  was 
the  Ohio,  and  not  the  northern  lakes.  A  few  days 
before,  while  hunting,  he  had  been  attacked  by  a 
fever,  sarcastically  ascribed  by  Galinde  to  his  having 
seen  three  large  rattlesnakes  crawling  up  a  rock.  He 
now  told  his  two  colleagues  that  he  was  in  no  condi- 
tion to  go  forward,  and  should  be  forced  to  part  with 
them.  The  staple  of  La  Salle's  character,  as  his  life 
will  attest,  was  an  invincible  determination  of  pur- 
pose, which  set  at  naught  all  risks  and  all  sufferings. 
He  had  cast  himself  with  all  his  resources  into  this 
enterprise ;  and,  while  his  faculties  remained,  he  was 
not  a  man  to  recoil  from  it.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
masculine  fibre  of  which  he  was  made  did  not  always 
withhold  him  from  the  practice  of  the  arts  of  address. 


1670.]  SEPARATION.  25 

and  the  use  of  what  Dollier  de  Casson  styles  hclles 
paroles.  He  respected  the  priesthood,  with  the 
exception,  it  seems,  of  the  Jesuits ;  and  he  was  under 
obligations  to  the  Sulpitians  of  Montreal.  Hence 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  used  his  illness  as  a 
pretext  for  escaping  from  their  company  without 
ungraciousness,  and  following  his  own  path  in  his 
own  way. 

On  the  last  day  of  September,  the  priests  made  an 
altar,  supported  by  the  paddles  of  the  canoes  laid  on 
forked  sticks.  Dollier  said  mass;  La  Salle  and  his 
followers  received  the  sacrament,  as  did  also  those 
of  his  late  colleagues;  and  thus  they  parted,  the 
Sulpitians  and  their  party  descending  the  Grand 
River  towards  Lake  Erie,  while  La  Salle,  as  they 
supposed,  began  his  return  to  Montreal.  What 
course  he  actually  took  we  shall  soon  inquire;  and 
meanwhile,  for  a  few  moments,  we  will  follow  the 
priests.  When  they  reached  Lake  Erie,  they  saw  it 
tossing  like  an  angry  ocean.  They  had  no  mind  to 
tempt  the  dangerous  and  unknown  navigation,  and 
encamped  for  the  winter  in  the  forest  near  the  penin- 
sula called  the  Long  Point.  Here  they  gathered 
a  good  store  of  chestnuts,  hickory-nuts,  plums, 
and  grapes,  and  built  themselves  a  log  cabin,  with 
a  recess  at  the  end  for  an  altar.  They  passed  the 
winter  unmolested,  shooting  game  in  abundance,  and 
saying  mass  three  times  a  week.  Early  in  spring, 
they  planted  a  large  cross,  attached  to  it  the  arms  of 
France,  and  took  formal  possession  of  the  country  in 


26  LA  SALLE  AND  THE  SULPITIANS.       [1670. 

the  name  of  Louis  XIV.  This  done,  they  resumed 
their  voyage,  and,  after  many  troubles,  landed  one 
evening  in  a  state  of  exhaustion  on  or  near  Point 
Pelde,  towards  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Erie. 
A  storm  rose  as  they  lay  asleep,  and  swept  off  a  great 
part  of  their  baggage,  which,  in  their  fatigue,  they 
had  left  at  the  edge  of  the  water.  Their  altar-service 
was  lost  with  the  rest,  —  a  misfortune  which  they 
ascribed  to  the  jealousy  and  malice  of  the  Devil. 
Debarred  henceforth  from  saying  mass,  they  resolved 
to  return  to  Montreal  and  leave  the  Pottawattamies 
uninstructed.  They  presently  entered  the  strait  by 
which  Lake  Huron  joins  Lake  Erie,  and  landing 
near  where  Detroit  now  stands,  found  a  large  stone, 
somewhat  suggestive  of  the  human  figure,  which  the 
Indians  had  bedaubed  with  paint,  and  which  they 
worshipped  as  a  manito.  In  view  of  their  late  mis- 
fortune, this  device  of  the  arch-enemy  excited  their 
utmost  resentment.  "After  the  loss  of  our  altar- 
service,"  writes  Galinde,  "and  the  hunger  we  had 
suffered,  there  was  not  a  man  of  us  who  was  not 
filled  with  hatred  against  this  false  deity.  I  devoted 
one  of  my  axes  to  breaking  him  in  pieces ;  and  then, 
having  fastened  our  canoes  side  by  side,  we  carried 
the  largest  piece  to  the  middle  of  the  river,  and  threw 
it,  with  all  the  rest,  into  the  water,  that  he  might 
never  be  heard  of  again.  God  rewarded  us  imme- 
diately for  this  good  action,  for  we  killed  a  deer  and 
a  bear  that  same  day." 
This  is  the  first  recorded  passage  of  white  men 


1670.]  AT  STE.  MARIE  DU  SAUT.  27 

through  the  Strait  of  Detroit;  though  Joliet  had,  no 
doubt,  passed  this  way  on  his  return  from  the  Upper 
Lakes.  ^  The  two  missionaries  took  this  course,  with 
the  intention  of  proceeding  to  the  Saut  Ste.  Marie, 
and  there  joining  the  Ottawas,  and  other  tribes  of 
that  region,  in  their  yearly  descent  to  MontreaL 
They  issued  upon  Lake  Huron ;  followed  its  eastern 
shores  till  they  reached  the  Georgian  Bay,  near  the 
head  of  which  the  Jesuits  had  established  their  great 
mission  of  the  Hiu'ons,  desti'oyed,  twenty  years 
before,  by  the  Iroquois  ;2  and,  ignoring  or  slighting 
the  labors  of  the  rival  missionaries,  held  their  way 
northward  along  the  rocky  archipelago  that  edged 
those  lonely  coasts.  They  passed  the  Manitoulins, 
and,  ascending  the  strait  by  which  Lake  Superior 
discharges  its  waters,  arrived  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
May  at  Ste.  Marie  du  Saut.  Here  they  found  the 
two  Jesuits,  Dablon  and  Marquette,  in  a  square  fort 
of  cedar  pickets,  built  by  their  men  within  the  past 
year,  and  enclosing  a  chapel  and  a  house.  Near  by, 
they  had  cleared  a  large  tract  of  land,  and  sown  it 
with  wheat,  Indian  corn,  peas,  and  other  crops.  The 
new-comers  were  graciously  received,  and  invited  to 
vespers  in  the  chapel ;  but  they  very  soon  found  La 
Salle's  prediction  made  good,  and  saw  that  the  Jesuit 
fathers  wanted  no  help  from  St.  Sulpice.     Galinde, 

^  The  Jesuits  and  fur-traders,  on  their  way  to  the  Upper  Lakes, 
had  followed  the  route  of  the  Ottawa,  or,  more  recently,  that  of 
Toronto  and  the  Georgian  Bay.  Iroquois  hostility  had  long  closed 
the  Niagara  portage  and  Lake  Erie  against  them, 

*  The  Jesuits  in  North  America. 


28  LA   SALLE   AND   THE   SULPITIANS.       [1G70. 

on  his  part,  takes  occasion  to  remark,  that,  though 
the  Jesuits  had  baptized  a  few  Indians  at  the  Saut, 
not  one  of  them  was  a  good  enough  Christian  to 
receive  the  Eucharist;  and  he  intimates  that  the 
case,  by  their  own  showing,  was  still  worse  at  their 
mission  of  St.  Esprit.  The  two  Sulpitians  did  not 
care  to  prolong  their  stay ;  and,  three  days  after  their 
arrival,  they  left  the  Saut,  —  not,  as  they  expected, 
with  the  Indians,  but  with  a  French  guide,  furnished 
by  the  Jesuits.  Ascending  French  River  to  Lake 
Nijiissing,  they  crossed  to  the  waters  of  the  Ottawa, 
and  descended  to  Montreal,  which  they  reached  on 
the  eighteenth  of  June.  They  had  made  no  discov- 
eries and  no  converts ;  but  Galin^e,  after  his  arrival, 
made  the  earliest  map  of  the  Upper  Lakes  known  to 
exist.  ^ 

We  return  now  to  La  Salle,  only  to  find  ourselves 
involved  in  mist  and  obscurity.  What  did  he  do 
after  he  left  the  two  priests?  Unfortunately,  a 
definite  answer  is  not  possible;  and  the  next  two 
years  of  his  life  remain  in  some  measure  an  enigma. 
That  he  was  busied  in  active  exploration,  and  that  he 
made  important  discoveries,  is  certain ;  but  the  extent 
and  character  of  these  discoveries  remain  wrapped  in 
doubt.  He  is  known  to  have  kept  journals  and  made 
maps ;  and  these  were  in  existence,  and  in  possession 
of  his  niece,  Madeleine  Cavelier,  then  in  advanced 

^  See  Appendix.  The  above  narrative  is  from  Recit  de  ce  qui 
s'est  passe  de  plus  remarquahlc  dans  le  Voyage  de  MM.  Dollier  et  Gait- 
nee,     (Bibliotheque  Nationale.) 


1669-70.]  LA  SALLE'S  DISCOVERIES.  29 

age,  as  late  as  the  year  1756 ;  beyond  which  time  the 
most  diligent  inquiry  has  failed  to  trace  them.  Abbd 
Faillon  affirms  that  some  of  La  Salle's  men,  refusing 
to  follow  him,  returned  to  La  Chine,  and  that  the 
place  then  received  its  name,  in  derision  of  the  young 
adventurer's  dream  of  a  westward  passage  to  China. ^ 
As  for  himself,  the  only  distinct  record  of  his  move- 
ments is  that  contained  in  a  paper,  entitled  "  Histoire 
de  Monsieur  de  la  Salle."  It  is  an  account  of  his 
explorations,  and  of  the  state  of  parties  in  Canada 
previous  to  the  year  1678,  —  taken  from  the  lips  of 
La  Salle  himself,  by  a  person  whose  name  does  not 
appear,  but  who  declares  that  he  had  ten  or  twelve 
conversations  with  him  at  Paris,  whither  he  had  come 
with  a  petition  to  the  Court.  The  writer  himself 
had  never  been  in  America,  and  was  ignorant  of  its 
geography ;  hence  blunders  on  his  part  might  reason- 
ably be  expected.  His  statements,  however,  are  in 
some  measure  intelligible;  and  the  following  is  the 
substance  of  them. 

After  leaving  the  priests,  La  Salle  went  to 
Onondaga,  where  we  are  left  to  infer  that  he  suc- 
ceeded better  in  getting  a  guide  than  he  had  before 
done  among  the  Senecas.  Thence  he  made  his  way 
to  a  point  six  or  seven  leagues  distant  from  Lake 
Erie,  where  he  reached  a  branch  of  the  Ohio,  and, 
descending  it,  followed  the  river  as  far  as  the  rapids 
at  Louisville,  —  or,  as  has  been  maintained,  beyond 

^  DoUier  de  Casson  alludes  to  this  as  "  cette  transmigration 
celebre  qui  se  fit  de  la  Chine  dans  ces  quartiers." 


30  LA   SALLE   AND  THE  SULPITIANS.     [1669-70. 

its  confluence  with  the  Mississippi.  His  men  now 
refused  to  go  farther,  and  abandoned  him,  escaping 
to  the  English  and  the  Dutch ;  whereupon  he  retraced 
his  steps  alone.  ^  This  must  have  been  in  the  winter 
of  1669-70,  or  in  the  following  spring ;  unless  there 
is  an  error  of  date  in  the  statement  of  Nicolas  Perrot, 
the  famous  voyageur,  who  says  that  he  met  him  in 
the  summer  of  1670,  hunting  on  the  Ottawa  with  a 
party  of  Iroquois. ^ 

But  how  was  La  Salle  employed  in  the  following 
year?    The  same   memoir  has   its   solution   to   the 

*  The  following  is  the  passage  relating  to  this  journey  in  the 
remarkable  paper  above  mentioned.  After  recounting  La  Salle's 
visit  with  the  Sulpitians  to  the  Seneca  village,  and  stating  that  the 
intrigues  of  the  Jesuit  missionary  prevented  them  from  obtaining  a 
guide,  it  speaks  of  the  separation  of  the  travellers  and  the  journey 
of  Galin^e  and  his  party  to  the  Saut  Ste.  Marie,  where  "  les  Jesuitea 
les  conge'dierent."  It  then  proceeds  as  follows :  "  Cependant  Mr. 
de  la  Salle  continua  son  chemin  par  une  riviere  qui  va  de  Test  k 
I'ouest ;  et  passe  h  Onontaque'  [Onondaga],  puis  h  six  ou  sept  lieues 
au-dessous  du  Lac  Erie';  et  estant  parvenu  jusqu'au  280"'^  ou  83'"« 
degrd  de  longitude,  et  jusqu'au  41™"  degre  de  latitude,  trouva  un 
sault  qui  tombe  vers  I'ouest  dans  un  pays  has,  marescageux,  tout 
convert  de  vielles  souches,  dont  il  y  en  a  quelques-unes  qui  sont 
encore  sur  pied.  II  fut  done  contraint  de  prendre  terre,  et  suivant 
une  hauteur  qui  le  pouvoit  mencr  loin,  il  trouva  quelques  sauvages 
qui  luy  dirent  que  fort  loin  de  \h  le  mesme  fleuve  qui  se  perdoit 
dans  cette  terre  basse  et  vaste  se  reunnissoit  en  un  lit.  II  continua 
done  son  cliemin,  mais  comme  la  fatigue  estoit  grande,  23  ou  24 
hommes  qu'il  avoit  menez  jusques  la  le  quitterent  tons  en  une  nuit, 
regagn^rent  le  fleuve,  et  se  sauv{;rent,  les  uns  h.  la  Nouvelle  Hol- 
lande  et  los  autres  k  la  Nouvelle  Angleterre.  II  se  vit  done  seul  h, 
400  lieues  de  chez  luj^,  oil  il  ne  laisse  pas  de  revenir,  remontant  la 
riviere  et  vivant  de  cliasse,  d'herbes,  et  de  ce  que  luy  donnferent  les 
sauvages  qu'il  rencontra  en  son  chemin." 

2  Perrot,  Menioires,  119,  120. 


1669-71.]  THE  RIVER  ILLINOIS.  31 

problem.  By  this  it  appears  that  the  indefatigable 
explorer  embarked  on  Lake  Erie,  ascended  the 
Detroit  to  Lake  Huron,  coasted  the  unknown  shores 
of  Micliigan,  passed  the  Straits  of  Michilimackinac, 
and,  leaving  Green  Bay  behind  him,  entered  what  is 
described  as  an  incomparably  larger  bay,  but  which 
was  evidently  the  southern  portion  of  Lake  Michigan. 
Thence  he  crossed  to  a  river  flowing  westward,  — 
evidently  the  Illinois,  —  and  followed  it  until  it  was 
joined  by  another  river  flowing  from  the  northwest 
to  the  southeast.  By  this,  the  Mississippi  only  can 
be  meant;  and  he  is  reported  to  have  said  that  he 
descended  it  to  the  thirty-sixth  degree  of  latitude; 
where  he  stopped,  assured  that  it  discharged  itself 
not  into  the  Gulf  of  California,  but  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  resolved  to  follow  it  thither  at  a  future 
day,  when  better  provided  with  men  and  supplies.^ 
The  first  of  these  statements,  —  that  relating  to  the 


1  The  memoir — after  stating,  as  above,  that  he  entered  Lake 
Huron,  doubled  the  peninsula  oi  Michigan,  and  passed  La  Baye  des 
Puants  (Green  Bay)  —  says:  "II  reconnut  une  baye  incomparable- 
ment  plus  large ;  au  fond  de  laquelle  vers  I'ouest  il  trouva  un  tres^ 
beau  havre  et  au  fond  de  ce  havre  un  fleuve  qui  va  de  Test  h.  I'ouest. 
II  suivit  ce  fleuve,  et  estant  parvenu  jusqu'environ  le  280'"<=  degre 
de  longitude  et  le  SQ""®  de  latitude,  il  trouva  un  autre  fleuve  qui  se 
joignant  au  premier  coulait  du  nordouest  au  sudest,  et  il  suivit  ce 
Ileuve  jusqu'au  36""^  degre  de  latitude." 

The  "  tres-beau  havre  "  may  have  been  the  entrance  of  the  river 
Chicago,  whence,  by  an  easy  portage,  he  might  have  reached  the 
Des  Plaines  branch  of  the  Illinois.  We  shall  see  that  he  took  this 
course  in  his  famous  exploration  of  1682. 

The  intendant  Talon  announces,  in  his  despatches  of  this  year, 
that  he  had  sent  La  Salle  southward  and  westward  to  explore. 


32  LA   SALLE  AND  THE  SULPITIANS.       [167L 

Ohio,  —  confused,  vague,  and  in  great  part  incorrect, 
as  it  certainly  is,  is  nevertheless  well  sustained  as 
regards  one  essential  point.  La  Salle  liimself,  in  a 
memorial  addressed  to  Count  Frontenac  in  1677, 
afBrms  that  he  discovered  the  Ohio,  and  descended  it 
as  far  as  to  a  fall  which  obstructed  it.^  Again,  his 
rival,  Louis  Joliet,  whose  testimony  on  this  point 
cannot  be  suspected,  made  two  maps  of  the  region  of 
the  Mississippi  and  the  Great  Lakes.  The  Ohio  is 
laid  down  on  both  of  them,  with  an  inscription  to  the 
effect  that  it  had  been  explored  by  La  Salle. ^    That 

*  The  following  are  his  words  (he  speaks  of  himself  in  the  third 
person) :  "  L'annee  1667,  et  les  suivantes,  il  fit  divers  voyages  avec 
beaucoup  de  depenses,  dans  lesquels  il  decouvrit  le  premier  beau- 
coup  de  pays  au  sud  des  grands  lacs,  et  entre  autres  la  grande  riviere 
d'Ohio;  il  la  suivit  jusqu'k  un  endroit  oil  elle  tombe  de  fort  haut 
dans  de  vastes  marais,  a  la  liauteur  de  37  degres,  apres  avoir  ete 
grossie  par  une  autre  riviere  fort  large  qui  vient  du  nord ;  et  toutes 
ces  eaux  se  dechargent  selon  toutes  les  apparences  dans  le  Golfe 
du  Mexique." 

This  "  autre  riviere,"  which,  it  seems,  was  above  the  fall,  may 
have  been  the  Miami  or  the  Scioto.  There  is  but  one  fall  on  the 
river,  that  of  Louisville,  which  is  not  so  high  as  to  deserve  to  be 
described  as  "  fort  haut,"  being  only  a  strong  rapid.  The  latitude, 
as  will  be  seen,  is  different  in  the  two  accounts,  and  incorrect  in 
both. 

2  One  of  these  maps  is  entitled  Cnrte  de  la  decouverte  du  Sieur 
Joliet,  1674.  Over  tlie  lines  representing  the  Ohio  are  the  words, 
"  Koute  du  sieur  de  la  Salle  pour  aller  dans  le  Mexique."  The 
other  map  of  Joliet  bears,  also  written  over  the  Ohio,  the  words, 
"  Riviere  par  oil  descendit  le  sieur  de  la  Salle  au  sortir  du  lac  Erie 
pour  aller  dans  le  Mexique."  I  have  also  another  manuscript  map, 
made  before  the  voyage  of  Joliet  and  Marquette,  and  apparently  in 
the  year  1673,  on  which  tlic  Ohio  is  represented  as  far  as  to  a  point 
a  little  below  Louisville,  and  over  it  is  written,  "Riviere  Ohio, 
ainsy  appellee  par  les  Iroquois  a  cause  de  sa  beaute,  par  ou  le  sieur 


1671.]  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  33 

he  discovered  the  Ohio  may  then  be  regarded  as 
established.  That  he  descended  it  to  the  Mississippi, 
he  himself  does  not  pretend;  nor  is  there  reason  to 
believe  that  he  did  so. 

With  regard  to  his  alleged  voyage  down  the 
Illinois,  the  case  is  different.  Here,  he  is  reported 
to  have  made  a  statement  which  admits  but  one  inter- 
pretation, —  that  of  the  discovery  by  him  of  the 
Mississippi  prior  to  its  discovery  by  Joliet  and 
Marquette.  This  statement  is  attributed  to  a  man 
not  prone  to  vaunt  his  own  exploits,  who  never  pro- 
claimed them  in  print,  and  whose  testimony,  even  in 
his  own  case,  must  therefore  have  weight.  But  it 
comes  to  us  through  the  medium  of  a  person  strongly 
biassed  in  favor  of  La  Salle,  and  against  Marquette 
and  the  Jesuits. 

Seven  years  had  passed  since  the  alleged  discovery, 
and  La  Salle  had  not  before  laid  claim  to  it ;  although 
it  was  matter  of  notoriety  that  during  five  years  it 
had  been  claimed  by  Joliet,  and  that  liis  claim  was 
generally  admitted.  The  correspondence  of  the 
governor  and  the  intendant  is  silent  as  to  La  Salle's 
having  penetrated  to  the  Mississippi,  though  the 
attempt  was  made  under  the  auspices  of  the  latter, 
as  his  own  letters  declare;  while  both  had  the  dis- 
covery of  the  great  river  earnestly  at  heart.  The 
governor,  Frontenac,  La  Salle's  ardent  supporter  and 

de  la  Salle  est  descendu."    The  Mississippi  is  not  represented  on 
this  map  ;  but  —  and  this  is  very  significant,  as  indicating  the  extent 
of  La  Salle's  exploration  of  the  following  year  —  a  small  part  of 
the  upper  Illinois  is  laid  dowTi. 
VOL.  I. — 3 


34  LA   SALLE   AND   THE   SULPITIANS.       [1671. 

ally,  believed  iu  1672,  as  his  letters  show,  that  the 
Mississippi  flowed  into  the  Gulf  of  California ;  and, 
two  years  later,  he  announces  to  the  minister  Colbert 
its  discovery  by  Joliet.^  After  La  Salle's  death,  his 
brother,  his  nephew,  and  his  niece  addressed  a  memo- 
rial to  the  king,  petitioning  for  certain  grants  in 
consideration  of  the  discoveries  of  their  relative, 
wliich  they  specify  at  some  length ;  but  they  do  not 
pretend  that  he  reached  the  Mississippi  before  his 
expeditions  of  1679  to  1682. ^  This  silence  is  the 
more  significant,  as  it  is  this  very  niece  who  had 
possession  of  the  papers  in  which  La  Salle  recounts 
the   journeys  of  which  the  issues  are  in  question.  ^ 

1  Lettre  de  Frontenac  au  Ministre,  14  Nov.,  1G74.  He  here  speaks 
of  "  la  grande  riviere  qu'il  [Joliet]  a  trouvee,  qui  va  du  nord  au  sud, 
et  qui  est  aussi  large  que  celle  du  Saint-Laurent  vis-k-vis  de  Que- 
bec." Four  years  later,  Frontenac  speaks  slightingly  of  Joliet,  but 
neither  denies  his  discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  nor  claims  it  for  La 
Salle,  in  whose  interest  he  writes. 

2  Papiers  de  Famille ;  Memoire  presente  au  Roi.  The  following  is 
an  extract:  "II  parvient  .  .  .  jusqu'b,  la  riviere  des  Illinois.  II  y 
construisit  un  fort  situ^  a  350  lieues  au-dela  du  fort  de  Frontenac, 
et  suivant  ensuite  le  cours  de  cette  riviere,  il  trouva  qu'elle  se  jettoit 
dans  un  grand  fleuve  appelle'  par  ceux  du  pays  Mississippi,  c'est  k 
dire  grande  eau,  environ  cent  lieues  au-dessous  du  fort  qu'il  venoit 
de  construire."  This  fort  was  Fort  Crevecoeur,  built  in  1680,  near 
the  site  of  Peoria.  The  memoir  goes  on  to  relate  the  descent  of  La 
Salle  to  the  Gulf,  which  concluded  this  expedition  of  1679-82. 

'  The  following  is  an  extract,  given  by  Margry,  from  a  letter  of 
the  aged  Madeleine  CaveUer,  dated  21  Fe'vrier,  1756,  and  addressed 
to  her  nephew,  M.  Le  Baillif,  who  had  applied  for  the  papers  in 
behalf  of  the  minister.  Silhouette :  "  J'ay  cherche  une  occasion  sdre 
pour  vous  anvoye  les  papiers  de  M.  de  la  Salle.  II  y  a  des  cartes 
que  j'ay  jointe  a  ces  papiers,  qui  doivent  prouver  que,  en  1675,  M. 
de  Lasalle  avet  dcja  fet  deux  voyages  en  ces  decouverte,  puisqu'il 
y  avet  une  carte,  que  je  vous  envoye,  par  laquelle  il  est  fait  men- 


1671]  LA  SALLE'S  DISCOVERIES.  35 

Had  they  led  him  to  the  Mississippi,  it  is  reasonably 
certain  that  she  would  have  made  it  known  in  her 
memorial.  La  Salle  discovered  the  Ohio,  and  in  all 
probability  the  Illinois  also;  but  that  he  discovered 
the  Mississippi  has  not  been  proved,  nor,  in  the  light 
of  the  evidence  we  have,  is  it  likely. 

tion  de  I'androit  auquel  M.  de  Lasalle  aborda  pres  le  fleuve  de  Mis- 
sissipi;  un  autre  androit  qu'il  nomme  le  fleuve  Colbert;  en  un 
autre  il  prans  possession  de  ce  pais  au  nom  du  roy  et  fait  planter 
une  crois." 

The  words  of  the  aged  and  illiterate  writer  are  obscure,  but  her 
expression  "  aborda  pres  "  seems  to  indicate  that  La  Salle  had  not 
reached  the  Mississippi  prior  to  1675,  but  only  approached  it. 

Finally,  a  memorial  presented  to  Seignelay,  along  with  the  official 
narrative  of  1679-81,  by  a  friend  of  La  Salle,  whose  object  was  to 
place  the  discoverer  and  his  achievements  in  the  most  favorable 
light,  contains  the  following :  "  11  [La  Salle]  a  este  le  premier  k 
former  le  dessein  de  ces  descouvertes,  qu'il  communiqua,  il  y  a 
plus  de  quinze  ans,  a  M.  de  Courcelles,  gouverneur,  et  h  M.  Talon, 
intendant  du  Canada,  qui  I'approuverent.  II  a  fait  ensuite  plusieurs 
voyages  de  ce  coste-la,  et  un  entr'autres  en  1669  avec  MM.  Dolier  et 
Galinee,  prestres  du  Se'minaire  de  St.  Sulpice.  //  est  vray  que  le 
sieur  JoUiet,  pour  le  prevenir,fit  un  voyage  in  1673,  a  la  riviere  Colbert ; 
mais  ce  fut  uniquement  pour  y  faire  commerce."  See  Margry,  ii. 
285.  This  passage  is  a  virtual  admission  that  Joliet  reached  the 
Mississippi  { Colbert)  before  La  Salle. 

Margry,  in  a  series  of  papers  in  the  Journal  General  de  I' Instruction 
Publique  for  1862,  first  took  the  position  that  La  Salle  reached  the 
Mississippi  in  1670  and  1671,  and  has  brought  forward  in  defence  of 
it  all  the  documents  which  his  unwearied  research  enabled  him  to 
discover.  Father  Tailhan,  S.  J.,  has  replied  at  lengtli,  in  the  copious 
notes  to  his  edition  of  Nicolas  Perrot,  but  without  having  seen  the 
principal  document  cited  by  Margry,  and  of  which  extracts  have 
been  given  in  the  notes  to  this  chapter. 


CHAPTER   III. 

1670-1672. 
THE  JESUITS  ON  THE  LAKES. 

The  Old  Missions  and  the  New.  —  A  Change  of  Spirit.  —  Lake 
Superior  and  the  Copper-mines.  —  Ste.  Marie.  —  La  Pointe. — 

MiCHILIMACKINAC. JeSUITS     ON     LaKE    MICHIGAN. AlLOUEZ 

AND  Dablon.  —  The  Jesuit  Fur-trade. 

What  were  the  Jesuits  doing?  Since  the  ruin  of 
their  great  mission  of  the  Hurons,  a  perceptible 
change  had  taken  place  in  them.  They  had  put  forth 
exertions  almost  superhuman,  set  at  naught  famine, 
disease,  and  death,  lived  with  the  self-abnegation  of 
saints  and  died  with  the  devotion  of  martyrs;  and 
the  result  of  all  had  been  a  disastrous  failure.  From 
no  short-coming  on  their  part,  but  from  the  force  of 
events  beyond  the  sphere  of  their  influence,  a  very 
demon  of  havoc  had  crushed  their  incipient  churches, 
slaughtered  their  converts,  uprooted  the  populous 
communities  on  which  their  hopes  had  rested,  and 
scattered  them  in  bands  of  wretched  fugitives  far  and 
wide  through  the  wilderness. ^  They  had  devoted 
themselves  in  the  fulness  of  faith  to  the  building  up 

1  See  "  The  Jesuits  in  North  America." 


1670-72.]        REPORTS  OF  THE  JESUITS.  37 

of  a  Christian  and  Jesuit  empire  on  the  conversion  of 
the  great  stationary  tribes  of  the  lakes ;  and  of  these 
none  remained  but  the  Iroquois,  the  destroyers  of  the 
rest,  —  among  whom,  indeed,  was  a  field  which  might 
stimulate  their  zeal  by  an  abundant  promise  of  suffer- 
ings and  martyrdoms,  but  which,  from  its  geographi- 
cal position,  was  too  much  exposed  to  Dutch  and 
English  influence  to  promise  great  and  decisive 
results.  Their  best  hopes  were  now  in  the  Nortli 
and  the  West;  and  thither,  in  great  part,  they  had 
turned  their  energies. 

We  find  them  on  Lake  Huron,  Lake  Superior,  and 
Lake  Michigan,  laboring  vigorously  as  of  old,  but  in 
a  spirit  not  quite  the  same.  Now,  as  before,  two 
objects  inspired  their  zeal,  —  the  "  greater  glory  of 
God,"  and  the  influence  and  credit  of  the  Order  of 
Jesus.  If  the  one  motive  had  somewhat  lost  in 
power,  the  other  had  gained.  The  epoch  of  the 
saints  and  martyrs  was  passing  away;  and  henceforth 
we  find  the  Canadian  Jesuit  less  and  less  an  apostle, 
more  and  more  an  explorer,  a  man  of  science,  and  a 
politician.  The  yearly  reports  of  the  missions  are 
still,  for  the  edification  of  the  pious  reader,  filled 
with  intolerably  tedious  stories  of  baptisms,  conver- 
sions, and  the  exemplary  deportment  of  neophytes, 
—  for  these  have  become  a  part  of  the  formula ;  but 
they  are  relieved  abundantly  by  more  mundane 
topics.  One  finds  observations  on  the  winds,  cur- 
rents, and  tides  of  the  Great  Lakes ;  speculations  on 
a  subterranean  outlet  of  Lake  Superior;  accounts  of 


l'?4()H8 


38  THE  JESUITS   ON   THE   LAKES.       [1670-72. 

its  copper-mines,  and  how  we,  the  Jesuit  fathers,  are 
laboring  to  explore  them  for  the  profit  of  the  colony; 
surmises  touching  the  North  Sea,  the  South  Sea,  the 
Sea  of  China,  which  we  hope  ere  long  to  discover; 
and  reports  of  that  great  mysterious  river  of  which 
the  Indians  tell  us,  —  flowing  southward,  perhaps  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  perhaps  to  the  Vermilion  Sea, 
—  and  the  secrets  whereof,  with  the  help  of  the 
Virgin,  we  will  soon  reveal  to  the  world. 

The  Jesuit  was  as  often  a  fanatic  for  his  Order  as 
for  his  faith;  and  oftener  yet  the  two  fanaticisms 
mingled  in  him  inextricably.  Ardently  as  he  burned 
for  the  saving  of  souls,  he  would  have  none  saved  on 
the  Upper  Lakes  except  by  his  brethren  and  himself. 
He  claimed  a  monopoly  of  conversion,  with  its 
attendant  monopoly  of  toil,  hardship,  and  martyr- 
dom. Often  disinterested  for  himself,  he  was  inor- 
dinately ambitious  for  the  great  corporate  power  in 
which  he  had  merged  his  own  personality ;  and  here 
lies  one  cause,  among  many,  of  the  seeming  contra- 
dictions which  abound  in  the  annals  of  the  Order. 

Prefixed  to  the  Relation  of  1671  is  that  monument 
of  Jesuit  hardihood  and  enterprise,  the  map  of  Lake 
Superior,  —  a  work  of  which,  however,  the  exactness 
has  been  exaggerated,  as  compared  with  other 
Canadian  maps  of  the  day.  While  making  surveys, 
the  priests  were  diligently  looking  for  copper. 
Father  Dablon  reports  that  they  had  found  it  in 
greatest  abundance  on  Isle  Minong,  now  Isle  Royale. 
"  A  day's  journey  from  the  head  of  the  lake,  on  the 


1670-72.]  STE.   MARIE  DU  SAUT.  39 

south  side,  there  is,"  he  says,  "a  rock  of  copper 
weighing  from  six  hundred  to  eight  hundred  pounds, 
lying  on  the  shore  where  any  who  pass  may  see  it;  " 
and  he  further  speaks  of  great  copper  boulders  in  the 
bed  of  the  river  Ontonagan.  ^ 

There  were  two  principal  missions  on  the  Upper 
Lakes,  which  were,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  parents  of 
the  rest.  One  of  these  was  Ste.  Marie  du  Saut,  — 
the  same  visited  by  D  oilier  and  Galin^e,  —  at  the 
outlet  of  Lake  Superior.  This  was  a  noted  fishing- 
place;  for  the  rapids  were  full  of  white-fish,  and 
Indians  came  thither  in  crowds.  The  permanent 
residents  were  an  Ojibwa  band,  whom  the  French 
called  Sauteurs,  and  whose  bark  lodges  were  clustered 

1  He  complains  that  the  Indians  were  very  averse  to  giving 
information  on  the  subject,  so  that  the  Jesuits  had  not  as  yet  dis- 
covered the  metal  in  situ,  tliough  they  hoped  soon  to  do  so.  The 
Indians  told  him  that  the  copper  had  first  been  found  by  four 
hunters,  who  had  landed  on  a  certain  island,  near  the  north  shore 
of  the  lake.  Wishing  to  boil  their  food  in  a  vessel  of  bark,  they 
gathered  stones  on  the  shore,  lieated  them  red  hot,  and  threw 
them  in,  but  presently  discovered  them  to  be  pure  copper.  Their 
repast  over,  they  hastened  to  re-embark,  being  afraid  of  the  l3mxes 
and  the  hares,  which,  on  this  island,  were  as  large  as  dogs,  and 
which  would  have  devoured  their  provisions,  and  perhaps  their 
canoe.  They  took  with  them  some  of  the  wonderful  stones ;  but 
scarcely  had  they  left  the  island,  when  a  deep  voice,  like  thimder, 
sounded  in  their  ears,  "  Who  are  these  thieves  who  steal  the  toys  of 
my  children  ?  "  It  was  the  God  of  the  Waters,  or  some  other  power- 
ful manito.  The  four  adventurers  retreated  in  great  terror ;  but 
three  of  them  soon  died,  and  the  fourth  survived  only  long  enough 
to  reach  his  village,  and  tell  the  story.  The  island  has  no  founda- 
tion, but  floats  with  the  movement  of  the  wind ;  and  no  Indian  dares 
land  on  its  shores,  dreading  the  wrath  of  the  manito.  Dablon, 
Relation,  1670,  84. 


40  THE  JESUITS  ON  THE   LAKES.       [1670-72. 

at  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  near  the  fort  of  the  Jesuits. 
Besides  these,  a  host  of  Algonquins,  of  various  tribes, 
resorted  thither  in  the  spring  and  summer,  —  living 
in  abundance  on  the  fishery,  and  dispersing  in  winter 
to  wander  and  starve  in  scattered  hunting-parties  far 
and  wide  through  the  forests. 

The  other  chief  mission  was  that  of  St.  Esprit,  at 
La  Pointe,  near  the  western  extremity  of  Lake 
Superior.  Here  were  the  Hurons,  fugitives  twenty 
years  before  from  the  slaughter  of  their  countrymen ; 
and  the  Ottawas,  who,  like  them,  had  sought  an 
asylum  from  the  rage  of  the  Iroquois.  Many  other 
tribes —  Illinois,  Pottawattamies,  Foxes,  Menomonies, 
Sioux,  Assiniboins,  Knisteneaux,  and  a  multitude 
besides  —  came  hither  yearly  to  trade  with  the  French. 
Here  was  a  young  Jesuit,  Jacques  Marquette,  lately 
arrived  from  the  Saut  Ste.  Marie.  His  savage  flock 
disheartened  him  by  its  backsli dings ;  and  the  best 
that  he  could  report  of  the  Hurons,  after  all  the  toil 
and  aU  the  blood  lavished  in  their  conversion,  was, 
that  they  "still  retain  a  little  Christianity;"  while 
the  Ottawas  are  "  far  removed  from  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  addicted  beyond  all  other  tribes  to  foulness, 
incantations,  and  sacrifices  to  evil  spirits."^ 

Marquette  heard  from  the  Illinois — yearly  visitors  at 
La  Pointe  —  of  the  great  river  which  they  had  crossed 
on  their  way,^  and  wliich,  as  he  conjectured,  flowed 

^  Lettre  du  Pere  Jacques  Marquette  au  R.  P.  Superieur  des  Mis- 
sions ;  in  Relation,  1070,  87. 

2  The  Illinois  lived  at  this  time  beyond  the  Mississippi,  thirty 


1670-72.]  MARQUETTE   AND   ANDR^.  41 

into  the  Gulf  of  California.  He  heard  marvels  of  it 
also  from  the  Sioux,  who  lived  on  its  banks;  and  a 
strong  desire  possessed  him  to  explore  the  mystery  of 
its  course.  A  sudden  calamity  dashed  his  hopes. 
The  Sioux  —  the  Iroquois  of  the  West,  as  the  Jesuits 
call  them  —  had  liitherto  kept  the  peace  with  the 
expatriated  tribes  of  La  Pointe ;  but  now,  from  some 
cause  not  worth  inquiry,  they  broke  into  open  war, 
and  so  terrified  the  Hurons  and  Ottawas  that  they 
abandoned  their  settlements  and  fled.  Marquette 
followed  his  panic-stricken  flock,  who,  passing  the 
Saut  Ste.  Marie,  and  descending  to  Lake  Huron, 
stopped  at  length,  —  the  Hurons  at  Michilimackinac, 
and  the  Ottawas  at  the  Great  Manitoulin  Island. 
Two  missions  were  now  necessary  to  minister  to 
the  divided  bands.  That  of  Michilimackinac  was 
assigned  to  Marquette,  and  that  of  the  Manitoulin 
Island  to  Louis  Andrd.  The  former  took  post  at 
Point  St.  Ignace,  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Straits  of 
Michilimackinac,  while  the  latter  began  the  mission 
of  St.  Simon  at  the  new  abode  of  the  Ottawas. 
When  winter  came,  scattering  his  flock  to  their 
hunting-grounds,  Andrd  made  a  missionary  tour 
among  the  Nipissings  and  other  neighboring  tribes. 
The  shores  of  Lake  Huron  had  long  been  an  utter 

days'  journey  from  La  Pointe ;  whither  they  had  been  driven  by 
the  Iroquois,  from  their  former  abode  near  Lake  Michigan.  Dablon 
{Relation,  1671,  24,  25)  says  that  they  lived  seven  days'  journey 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  in  eiglit  villages.  A  few  years  later,  most 
of  them  returned  to  the  east  side,  and  made  their  abode  on  the  river 
Illinois. 


42  THE  JESUITS  ON  THE  LAKES.       [1670-72. 

solitude,  swept  of  their  denizens  by  the  terror  of  the 
all-conquering  Iroquois;  but  now  that  these  tigers 
had  felt  the  power  of  the  French,  and  learned  for  a 
time  to  leave  their  Indian  allies  in  peace,  the  fugitive 
liordes  were  returning  to  their  ancient  abodes. 
Andre's  experience  among  them  was  of  the  roughest. 
The  staple  of  liis  diet  was  acorns  and  tripe  de  roche, 
—  a  species  of  lichen,  which,  being  boiled,  resolved 
itself  into  a  black  glue,  nauseous,  but  not  void  of 
nourishment.  At  times,  he  was  reduced  to  moss,  the 
bark  of  trees,  or  moccasins  and  old  moose-skins  cut 
into  strips  and  boiled.  His  hosts  treated  him  very- 
ill,  and  the  worst  of  their  fare  was  always  his  portion. 
When  spring  came  to  his  relief,  he  returned  to  his 
post  of  St.  Simon,  with  impaired  digestion  and 
unabated  zeal. 

Besides  the  Saut  Ste.  Marie  and  Michilimackinac, 
both  noted  fishing-places,  there  was  another  spot,  no 
less  famous  for  game  and  fish,  and  therefore  a  favorite 
resort  of  Indians.  This  was  the  head  of  the  Green 
Bay  of  Lake  Michigan.^  Here  and  in  adjacent 
districts  several  distinct  tribes  had  made  their  abode. 
The  Menomonies  were  on  the  river  which  bears  their 
name;  the   Pottawattamies   and   Winnebagoes   were 

^  The  Baye  des  Puants  of  the  early  writers  ;  or,  more  correctly, 
La  Baye  des  Eaux  Puantes.  The  Winnebago  Indians,  living  near 
it,  were  called  Les  Puans,  apparently  for  no  other  reason  than 
because  some  portion  of  the  bay  was  said  to  have  an  odor  like 
the   sea. 

Lake  Michigan,  the  "  Lac  des  Illinois "  of  the  French,  was,  , 
according  to  a  letter  of  Father  AUouez,  called  "  Machihiganing  "  by 
the  Indians.    Dablon  writes  the  name  "  Mitchiganon." 


1670-72.]  THE   GREEN  BAY  MISSION.  43 

near  the  borders  of  the  bay ;  the  Sacs,  on  Fox  River ; 
the  Mascoutins,  Miamis,  and  Kickapoos,  on  the  same 
river,  above  Lake  Winnebago;  and  the  Outagamies, 
or  Foxes,  on  a  tributary  of  it  flowing  from  the  north. 
Green  Bay  was  manifestly  suited  for  a  mission ;  and, 
as  early  as  the  autumn  of  1669,  Father  Claude 
Allouez  was  sent  thither  to  found  one.  After  nearly 
perishing  by  the  way,  he  set  out  to  explore  the 
destined  field  of  his  labors,  and  went  as  far  as  the 
town  of  the  Mascoutins.  Early  in  the  autumn  of 
1670,  having  been  joined  by  Dablon,  Superior  of  the 
missions  on  the  Upper  Lakes,  he  made  another  jour- 
ney, but  not  until  the  two  fathers  had  held  a  council 
with  the  congregated  tribes  at  St.  Frangois  Xavier; 
for  so  they  named  their  mission  of  Green  Bay.  Here, 
as  they  harangued  their  naked  audience,  their  gravity 
was  put  to  the  proof ;  for  a  band  of  warriors,  anxious 
to  do  them  honor,  walked  incessantly  up  and  down, 
aping  the  movements  of  the  soldiers  on  guard  before 
the  governor's  tent  at  Montreal.  "  We  could  hardly 
keep  from  laughing,"  writes  Dablon,  "though  we 
were  discoursing  on  very  important  subjects ;  namely, 
the  mysteries  of  our  religion,  and  the  things  necessary 
to  escaping  from  eternal  fii-e."^ 

The  fathers  were  delighted  with  the  country, 
which  Dablon  calls  an  earthly  paradise ;  but  he  adds 
that  the  way  to  it  is  as  hard  as  the  path  to  heaven. 
He  alludes  especially  to  the  rapids  of  Fox  River, 
which  gave  the  two  travellers  great  trouble.     Having 

1  Relation,  1671,  43. 


44  THE  JESUITS  ON  THE   LAKES.       [1670-72. 

safely  passed  them,  they  saw  an  Indian  idol  on  the 
bank,  similar  to  that  which  DoUier  and  Galinde  found 
at  Detroit,  —  being  merely  a  rock,  bearing  some 
resemblance  to  a  man,  and  hideously  painted.  With 
the  help  of  their  attendants,  they  threw  it  into  the 
river.  Dablon  expatiates  on  the  buffalo,  wliich  he 
describes  apparently  on  the  report  of  others,  as  his 
description  is  not  very  accurate.  Crossing  Winne- 
bago Lake,  the  two  priests  followed  the  river  leading 
to  the  town  of  the  Mascoutins  and  Miamis,  which 
they  reached  on  the  fifteenth  of  September.^  These 
two  tribes  lived  together  within  the  compass  of  the 
same  enclosure  of  palisades,  —  to  the  number,  it  is 
said,  of  more  than  three  thousand  souls.  The  mis- 
sionaries, who  had  brought  a  highly  colored  picture 
of  the  Last  Judgment,  called  the  Indians  to  council 
and  displayed  it  before  them;  while  Allouez,  who 
spoke  Algonquin,  harangued  them  on  hell,  demons, 
and  eternal  flames.  They  listened  with  open  ears, 
beset  him  night  and  day  with  questions,  and  invited 
him  and  his  companion  to  unceasing  feasts.  They 
were  welcomed  in  every  lodge,  and  followed  every- 
where with  eyes  of  curiosity,  wonder,  and  awe. 
Dablon  overflows  with  praises  of  the  Miami  chief, 
who  was  honored  by  his   subjects  like  a  king,  and 

1  This  town  was  on  the  Necnah  or  Fox  River,  above  Lake  "Win- 
nebago. The  Mascoutins,  Fire  Nation,  or  Nation  of  the  Prairie,  are 
extinct  or  merged  in  other  tribes.  See  "  The  Jesuits  in  North 
America."  The  Miamis  soon  removed  to  the  banks  of  the  river 
St.  Joseph,  near  Lake  Michigan. 


1670-72.]     THE   CROSS   AMONG  THE   FOXES.  45 

whose  demeanor  towards  his  guests  had  no  savor  of 
the  savage. 

Their  hosts  told  them  of  the  great  river  Mississippi, 
rising  far  in  the  north  and  flowing  southward,  —  they 
knew  not  whither,  —  and  of  many  tribes  that  dwelt 
along  its  banks.  When  at  length  they  took  their 
departure,  they  left  behind  them  a  reputation  as 
medicine-men  of  transcendent  power. 

In  the  winter  following,  Allouez  visited  the  Foxes, 
whom  he  found  in  extreme  ill-humor.  They  were 
incensed  against  the  French  by  the  ill-usage  which 
some  of  their  tribe  had  lately  met  when  on  a  trading 
visit  to  Montreal ;  and  they  received  the  Faith  with 
shouts  of  derision.  The  priest  was  horror-stricken 
at  what  he  saw.  Their  lodges,  each  containing  from 
five  to  ten  families,  seemed  in  his  eyes  like  seraglios; 
for  some  of  the  chiefs  had  eight  wives.  He  armed 
himself  with  patience,  and  at  length  gained  a  hear- 
ing. Nay,  he  succeeded  so  well,  that  when  he 
showed  them  his  crucifix  they  would  throw  tobacco 
on  it  as  an  offering ;  and,  on  another  visit  which  he 
made  them  soon  after,  he  taught  the  whole  village  to 
make  the  sign  of  the  cross.  A  war-party  was  going 
out  against  their  enemies,  and  he  bethought  him  of 
telling  them  the  story  of  the  Cross  and  the  Emperor 
Constantine.  This  so  wrought  upon  them  that  they 
all  daubed  the  figure  of  a  cross  on  their  shields  of 
bull-hide,  set  out  for  the  war,  and  came  back  victo- 
rious, extolling  the  sacred  symbol  as  a  great  war- 
medicine. 


46  THE  JESUITS  ON  THE   LAKES.      [1670-72. 

"Thus  it  is,"  writes  Dablon,  who  chronicles  the 
incident,  "  that  our  holy  faith  is  established  among 
these  people ;  and  we  have  good  hope  that  we  shall 
soon  carry  it  to  the  famous  river  called  the  Mississippi, 
and  perhaps  even  to  the  South  Sea."^  Most  things 
human  have  their  phases  of  the  ludicrous;  and  the 
heroism  of  these  untiring  priests  is  no  exception  to 
the  rule. 

The  various  missionary  stations  were  much  alike. 
They  consisted  of  a  chapel  (commonly  of  logs)  and 
one  or  more  houses,  with  perhaps  a  storehouse  and  a 
workshop;  the  whole  fenced  with  palisades,  and 
forming,  in  fact,  a  stockade  fort,  surrounded  with 
clearings  and  cultivated  fields.  It  is  evident  that 
the  priests  had  need  of  other  hands  than  their  own 
and  those  of  the  few  lay  brothers  attached  to  the 
mission.  They  required  men  inured  to  labor,  accus- 
tomed to  the  forest  life,  able  to  guide  canoes  and 
handle  tools  and  weapons.  In  the  earlier  epoch  of 
the  missions,  when  enthusiasm  was  at  its  height, 
they  were  served  in  great  measure  by  volunteers, 
who  joined  them  through  devotion  or  penitence,  and 
who  were  known  as  donnes,  or  "given  men."  Of 
late,  the  number  of  these  had  much  diminished ;  and 
they  now  relied  chiefly  on  hired  men,  or  engages. 
These  were  employed  in  building,  hunting,  fishing, 
clearing,  and  tilling  the  ground,  guiding  canoes,  and 
(if  faith  is  to  be  placed  in  reports  current  throughout 
the  colony)  in  trading  with  the  Indians  for  the  profit 
1  Relation,  1672,  42. 


1670-72.]  TRADING   WITH   INDIANS.  47 

of  the  missions.  This  charge  of  trading  —  which,  if 
the  results  were  applied  exclusively  to  the  support 
of  the  missions,  does  not  of  necessity  involve  much 
censure  —  is  vehemently  reiterated  in  many  quarters, 
including  the  official  despatches  of  the  governor  of 
Canada;  while,  so  far  as  I  can  discover,  the  Jesuits 
never  distinctly  denied  it,  and  on  several  occasions 
they  partially  admitted  its  truth.  ^ 

1  This  charge  was  made  from  the  first  establishment  of  the  mis- 
sions. For  remarks  on  it,  see  "  The  Jesiiits  in  North  America  "  and 
"  The  Old  Re'gime  in  Canada." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

1667-1672. 
FRANCE  TAKES  POSSESSION  OF  THE   WEST. 

Talon.  —  Saint-Lusson.  —  Perrot.  —  The  Ceremony  at  Saut  Stb. 
Marie.  —  The  Speech  of  Allouez.  —  Count  Frontenac. 

Jean  Talon,  intendant  of  Canada,  was  full  of 
projects  for  the  good  of  the  colony.  On  the  one 
hand,  he  set  himself  to  the  development  of  its  indus- 
tries, and,  on  the  other,  to  the  extension  of  its 
domain.  He  meant  to  occupy  the  interior  of  the 
continent,  control  the  rivers,  which  were  its  only 
highways,  and  hold  it  for  France  against  every  other 
nation.  On  the  east,  England  was  to  be  hemmed 
within  a  narrow  strip  of  seaboard;  while,  on  the 
south,  Talon  aimed  at  securing  a  port  on  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  to  keep  the  Spaniards  in  check,  and  dispute 
with  them  the  possession  of  the  vast  regions  which 
they  claimed  as  their  own.  But  the  interior  of  the 
continent  was  still  an  unknown  world.  It  behooved 
him  to  explore  it ;  and  to  that  end  he  availed  himself 
of  Jesuits,  officers,  fur-traders,  and  enterprising 
schemers  like  La  Salle.  His  efforts  at  discovery 
seem  to  have  been  conducted  with  a  singular  economy 


jean  Talon. 


1670.]  SAINT-LUSSON   AND  PERROT.  49 

of  the  King's  purse.  La  Salle  paid  all  tlie  expenses 
of  liis  first  expedition  made  under  Talon's  auspices; 
and  apparently  of  the  second  also,  though  the  intend- 
ant  announces  it  in  his  despatches  as  an  expedition 
sent  out  by  himself.^  When,  in  1670,  he  ordered 
Daumont  de  Saint-Lusson  to  search  for  copper  mines 
on  Lake  Superior,  and  at  the  same  time  to  take  formal 
possession  of  the  whole  interior  for  the  King,  it  was 
arranged  that  he  should  pay  the  costs  of  the  journey 
by  trading  with  the  Indians. ^ 

Saint-Lusson  set  out  with  a  small  party  of  men, 
and  Nicolas  Perrot  as  his  interpreter.  Among 
Canadian  voyageurs,  few  names  are  so  conspicuous 
as  that  of  Perrot ;  not  because  there  were  not  others 
who  matched  him  in  achievement,  but  because  he 
could  write,  and  left  behind  him  a  tolerable  account 
of  what  he  had  seen.^  He  was  at  this  time  twenty- 
six  years  old,  and  had  formerly  been  an  engage  of  the 
Jesuits.     He  was  a  man  of  enterprise,  courage,  and 

1  At  least,  La  Salle  was  in  great  need  of  money,  about  the  time 
of  his  second  journey.  On  the  sixth  of  August,  1671,  he  had 
received  on  credit,  "  dans  son  grand  besoin  et  necessite,"  from 
Branssac,  fiscal  attorney  of  the  Seminary,  merchandise  to  the  amount 
of  four  hundred  and  fifty  livres  ;  and  on  the  eighteenth  of  Decem- 
ber of  the  following  year  he  gave  his  promise  to  pay  the  same  sum, 
in  money  or  furs,  in  the  August  following.  Faillon  found  the  papers 
in  the  ancient  records  of  Montreal. 

2  In  his  despatch  of  2d  Nov.,  1671,  Talon  writes  to  the  King  that 
"  Sain t-Lus son's  expedition  will  cost  nothing,  as  he  has  received 
beaver  enough  from  the  Indians  to  pay  him." 

3  Mceuis,  Coustuines,  et  Relligion  des  Sauvages  de  I'Amerique  Sep- 
tentrionale.  This  work  of  Perrot,  hitherto  unpublished,  appeared  in 
1864,  under  the  editorship  of  Father  Tailhan,  S.J.  A  great  part  of 
it  is  incorporated  in  La  Potherie. 

VOL.    1.  — 4 


50  FRANCE  TAKES  POSSESSION,   ETC.       [1670. 

address,  —  the  last  being  especially  shown  in  liis 
dealings  with  Indians,  over  whom  he  had  great 
influence.  He  spoke  Algonquin  fluently,  and  was 
favorably  known  to  many  tribes  of  that  family. 

Saint-Lusson  wintered  at  the  Manitoulin  Islands; 
while  Perrot,  having  first  sent  messages  to  the  tribes 
of  the  north,  inviting  them  to  meet  the  deputy  of  the 
governor  at  the  Saut  Ste.  Marie  in  the  following 
spring,  proceeded  to  Green  Bay,  to  urge  the  same 
invitation  upon  the  tribes  of  that  quarter.  They 
knew  him  well,  and  greeted  him  with  clamors  of 
welcome.  The  Miamis,  it  is  said,  received  him  with 
a  sham  battle,  which  was  designed  to  do  him  honor, 
but  by  which  nerves  more  susceptible  would  have 
been  severely  shaken.  ^  They  entertained  him  also 
with  a  grand  game  of  la  crosse,  the  Indian  ball-play. 
Perrot  gives  a  marvellous  account  of  the  authority 
and  state  of  the  Miami  chief,  who,  he  says,  was 
attended  day  and  night  by  a  guard  of  warriors,  —  an 
assertion  which  would  be  incredible,  were  it  not 
sustained  by  the  account  of  the  same  chief  given  by 
the  Jesuit  Dablon.  Of  the  tribes  of  the  Bay,  the 
greater  part  promised  to  send  delegates  to  the  Saut; 
but  the  Pottawattamies  dissuaded  the  Miami  poten- 
tate from  attempting  so  long  a  journey,  lest  the 
fatigue  incident  to  it  might  injure  his  health ;  and  he 

1  See  La  Potherie,  ii.  125.  Perrot  himself  does  not  mention  it. 
Charlevoix  erroneously  places  this  interview  at  Chicago.  Parrot's 
narrative  shows  that  he  did  not  go  farther  than  the  tribes  of  Green 
Bay ;  and  the  Miamis  were  then,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  upper  part 
of  Fox  Kiver. 


1671.]  CEREMONY   AT   THE  SAUT.  51 

therefore  deputed  them  to  represent  him  and  Ms 
tribesmen  at  the  great  meeting.  Their  principal 
chiefs,  with  those  of  the  Sacs,  Winnebagoes,  and 
Menomonies,  embarked,  and  paddled  for  the  place 
of  rendezvous,  where  they  and  Perrot  arrived  on  the 
fifth  of  May.^ 

Saint-Lusson  was  here  with  his  men,  fifteen  in 
number,  among  whom  was  Louis  Joliet ;  ^  and  Indians 
were  fast  thronging  in  from  their  wintering  grounds, 
attracted,  as  usual,  by  the  fishery  of  the  rapids  or 
moved  by  the  messages  sent  by  Perrot,  —  Crees, 
Monsonis,  Amikouds,  Nipissings,  and  many  more. 
When  fourteen  tribes,  or  their  representatives,  had 
arrived,  Saint-Lusson  prepared  to  execute  the  com- 
mission with  which  he  was  charged. 

At  the  foot  of  the  rapids  was  the  village  of  the 
Sauteurs,  above  the  village  was  a  hill,  and  hard  by 
stood  the  fort  of  the  Jesuits.  On  the  morning  of  the 
fourteenth  of  June,  Saint-Lusson  led  his  followers  to 
the  top  of  the  hill,  all  fully  equipped  and  under 
arms.  Here,  too,  in  the  vestments  of  their  priestly 
office,  were  four  Jesuits,  —  Claude  Dablon,  Superior 
of  the  Missions  of  the  lakes,  Gabriel  Druilletes, 
Claude  Allouez,  and  Louis  Andrd.^  All  around  the 
great  throng  of  Indians  stood,  or  crouched,  or 
reclined   at   length,  with  eyes  and   ears   intent.     A 

^  Perrot,  Memoires,  127. 

2  Proces  Verbal  de  la  Prise  de  Possession,  etc.,  14  Juin,  1671.  Tlie 
names  are  attached  to  this  instrument. 

3  Marquette  is  said  to  have  been  present ;  but  the  official  act, 
just  cited,  proves  the  contrary.     He  was  still  at  St.  Esprit. 


62  FRANCE  TAKES   POSSESSION,   ETC.       [1G71. 

large  cross  of  wood  had  been  made  ready.  Dablon, 
in  solemn  form,  pronounced  his  blessing  on  it;  and 
then  it  was  reared  and  planted  in  the  ground,  while 
the  Frenchmen,  uncovered,  sang  the  Vexilla  Regis. 
Then  a  post  of  cedar  was  planted  beside  it,  with  a 
metal  plate  attached,  engraven  Avith  the  royal  arms ; 
while  Saint-Lusson's  followers  sang  the  Exaudiat^ 
and  one  of  the  Jesuits  uttered  a  prayer  for  the  King. 
Saint-Lusson  now  advanced,  and,  holding  his  sword 
in  one  hand,  and  raising  with  the  other  a  sod  of 
earth,  proclaimed  in  a  loud  voice,  — 

"In  the  name  of  the  Most  High,  Mighty,  and 
Redoubted  Monarch,  Louis,  Fourteenth  of  that  name, 
Most  Christian  King  of  France  and  of  Navarre,  I  take 
possession  of  this  place,  Sainte  Marie  du  Saut,  as 
also  of  Lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  the  Island  of 
Manitoulin,  and  all  countries,  rivers,  lakes,  and 
streams  contiguous  and  adjacent  thereunto,  —  both 
those  which  have  been  discovered  and  those  which 
may  be  discovered  hereafter,  in  all  their  length  and 
breadth,  bounded  on  the  one  side  by  the  seas  of  the 
North  and  of  the  West,  and  on  the  other  by  the 
South  Sea:  declaring  to  the  nations  thereof  that  from 
this  time  forth  tliey  are  vassals  of  his  Majesty,  bound 
to  obey  his  laws  and  follow  his  customs ;  promising 
them  on  his  part  all  succor  and  protection  against  the 
incursions  and  invasions  of  their  enemies:  declaring 
to  all  other  potentates,  princes,  sovereigns,  states, 
and  republics,  —  to  them  and  to  their  subjects,  —  that 
they  cannot  and  are  not  to  seize  or  settle  upon  any 


1671.]  ALLOUEZ'S  HARANGUE.  53 

parts  of  the  aforesaid  countries,  save  only  under  the 
good  pleasure  of  His  Most  Christian  Majesty,  and  of 
him  who  will  govern  in  his  behalf;  and  this  on  pain 
of  incurring  his  resentment  and  the  efforts  of  his 
arms.      Vive  le  Roi.^''^ 

The  Frenchmen  fired  their  guns  and  shouted  "  Vive 
le  Roi,"  and  the  yelps  of  the  astonished  Indians 
mingled  with  the  din. 

What  now  remains  of  the  sovereignty  thus  pom- 
pously proclaimed?  Now  and  then  the  accents  of 
France  on  the  lips  of  some  straggling  boatman  or 
vagabond  half-breed,  —  this,  and  nothing  more. 

When  the  uproar  was  over,  Father  Allouez  ad- 
dressed the  Indians  in  a  solemn  harangue ;  and  these 
were  his  words :  "  It  is  a  good  work,  my  brothers,  an 
important  work,  a  great  work,  that  brings  us  together 
in  council  to-day.  Look  up  at  the  cross  which  rises 
so  high  above  your  heads.  It  was  there  that  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  after  making  himself  a  man 
for  the  love  of  men,  was  nailed  and  died,  to  satisfy 
his  Eternal  Father  for  our  sins.  He  is  the  master  of 
our  lives ;  the  ruler  of  Heaven,  Earth,  and  Hell.  It 
is  he  of  whom  I  am  continually  speaking  to  you,  and 
whose  name  and  word  I  have  borne  through  all  your 
country.  But  look  at  this  post  to  which  are  fixed 
the  arms  of  the  great  chief  of  France,  whom  we  call 
King.  He  lives  across  the  sea.  He  is  the  chief  of 
the  greatest  chiefs,  and  has  no  equal  on  earth.  All 
the  chiefs  whom  you  have  ever  seen  are  but  children 

1  Proces  Verbal  de  la  Prise  de  Possession. 


64  FRANCE  TAKES   POSSESSION,   ETC.       [1671. 

beside  him.  He  is  like  a  great  tree,  and  they  are 
but  the  little  herbs  that  one  walks  over  and  tramples 
under  foot.  You  know  Onontio,^  that  famous  chief 
at  Quebec ;  you  know  and  you  have  seen  that  he  is 
the  terror  of  the  Iroquois,  and  that  his  very  name 
makes  them  tremble,  since  he  has  laid  their  country 
waste  and  burned  their  towns  with  fire.  Across  the 
sea  there  are  ten  thousand  Onontios  like  him,  who 
are  but  the  warriors  of  our  great  King,  of  whom  I 
have  told  you.  When  he  says,  '  I  am  going  to  war, ' 
everybody  obeys  his  orders;  and  each  of  these  ten 
thousand  chiefs  raises  a  troop  of  a  hundred  warriors, 
some  on  sea  and  some  on  land.  Some  embark  in 
great  ships,  such  as  you  have  seen  at  Quebec.  Your 
canoes  carry  only  four  or  five  men,  or,  at  the  most, 
ten  or  twelve ;  but  our  ships  carry  four  or  five  hun- 
dred, and  sometimes  a  thousand.  Others  go  to  war 
by  land,  and  in  such  numbers  that  if  they  stood  in  a 
double  file  they  would  reach  from  here  to  Mississa- 
quenk,  which  is  more  than  twenty  leagues  off.  When 
our  King  attacks  his  enemies,  he  is  more  terrible  than 
the  thunder :  the  earth  trembles ;  the  air  and  the  sea 
are  all  on  fire  with  the  blaze  of  his  cannon :  he  is  seen 
in  the  midst  of  his  warriors,  covered  over  with  the 
blood  of  his  enemies,  whom  he  kills  in  such  numbers 
that  he  does  not  reckon  them  by  the  scalps,  but  by 
the  streams  of  blood  which  he  causes  to  flow.  He 
takes  so  many  prisoners  that  he  holds  them  in  no 
account,  but  lets  them  go  where  they  will,  to  show 
^  The  Indian  name  of  the  governor  of  Canada. 


1671.]  ALLOUEZ'S  HARANGUE.  55 

that  he  is  not  afraid  of  them.  But  now  nobody  dares 
make  war  on  him.  All  the  nations  beyond  the  sea 
have  submitted  to  him  and  begged  humbly  for  peace. 
Men  come  from  every  quarter  of  the  earth  to  listen 
to  him  and  admire  him.  All  that  is  done  in  the 
world  is  decided  by  him  alone. 

"  But  what  shall  I  say  of  his  riches  ?  You  think 
yourselves  rich  when  you  have  ten  or  twelve  sacks  of 
corn,  a  few  hatchets,  beads,  kettles,  and  other  things 
of  that  sort.  He  has  cities  of  his  own,  more  than 
there  are  of  men  in  all  this  country  for  five  hundred 
leagues  around.  In  each  city  there  are  storehouses 
where  there  are  hatchets  enough  to  cut  down  all  your 
forests,  kettles  enough  to  cook  all  your  moose,  and 
beads  enough  to  fill  all  your  lodges.  His  house  is 
longer  than  from  here  to  the  top  of  the  Saut,  —  that 
is  to  say,  more  than  half  a  league,  —  and  higher  than 
your  tallest  trees ;  and  it  holds  more  families  than  the 
largest  of  your  towns.  "^  The  father  added  more  in 
a  similar  strain ;  but  the  peroration  of  his  harangue 
is  not  on  record. 

Whatever  impression  this  curious  effort  of  Jesuit 
rhetoric  may  have  produced  upon  the  hearers,  it  did 
not  prevent  them  from  stripping  the  royal  arms  from 
the  post  to  which  they  were  nailed,  as  soon  as  Saint- 
Lusson  and  his  men  had  left  the  Saut ;  probably,  not 
because  they  understood  the  import  of  the  symbol, 
but  because  they  feared  it  as  a  charm.     Saint-Lusson 

1  A  close  translation  of  Dablon's  report  of  the  speech.  See 
Relation,  1671,  27. 


56  FRANCE  TAKES  POSSESSION,   ETC.       [1672. 

proceeded  to  Lake  Superior,  where,  however,  he 
accomplished  nothing,  except,  perhaps,  a  traffic  with 
the  Indians  on  his  own  account;  and  he  soon  after 
returned  to  Quebec.  Talon  was  resolved  to  find  the 
Mississippi,  the  most  interesting  object  of  search, 
and  seemingly  the  most  attainable,  in  the  wild  and 
vague  domain  which  he  had  just  claimed  for  the 
King.  The  Indians  had  described  it;  the  Jesuits 
were  eager  to  discover  it;  and  La  Salle,  if  he  had 
not  reached  it,  had  explored  two  several  avenues  by . 
which  it  might  be  approached.  Talon  looked  about 
him  for  a  fit  agent  of  the  enterprise,  and  made 
choice  of  Louis  Joliet,  who  had  returned  from  Lake 
Superior.  1  But  the  intendant  was  not  to  see  the 
fulfilment  of  his  design.  His  busy  and  useful  career 
in  Canada  was  drawing  to  an  end.  A  misunder- 
standing had  arisen  between  him  and  the  governor, 
Courcelle.  Both  were  faithful  servants  of  the  King; 
but  the  relations  between  the  two  chiefs  of  the  colony 
were  of  a  nature  necessarily  so  critical,  that  a  con- 
flict of  authority  was  scarcely  to  be  avoided.  Each 
thought  his  functions  encroached  upon,  and  both 
asked  for  recall.  Another  governor  succeeded ;  one 
who  was  to  stamp  his  mark,  broad,  bold,  and  inefface- 
able, on  the  most  memorable  page  of  French- American 
History,  —  Louis  de  Buade,  Count  of  Palluau  and 
Frontenac. 

1  Lettre  de  Frontenac  an  Minhtre,  2  Nov.,  1672.  In  the  Brodhead 
Collection,  by  a  copyist's  error,  the  name  of  the  Chevalier  de  Grand- 
fontaine  is  substituted  for  that  of  Talon. 


CHAPTER  V. 

1672-1675. 
THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

JOLIET    SENT   TO    FIND    THE    MISSISSIPPI.  —  JaCQUES    MaRQDETTE. — 

Departure.  —  Green  Bay.  —  The  Wisconsin.  —  The  Missis- 
sippi.—  Indians.  —  Manitous.  —  The  Arkansas. —  The  Illi- 
nois.—  Joliet's  Misfortune.  —  Marquette  at  Chicago:  his 
Illness;  his  Death. 

If  Talon  had  remained  in  the  colony,  Frontenac 
would  infallibly  have  quarrelled  with  him;  but  he 
was  too  clear-sighted  not  to  approve  his  plans  for  the 
discovery  and  occupation  of  the  interior.  Before 
sailing  for  France,  Talon  recommended  Joliet  as  a 
suitable  agent  for  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  governor  accepted  his  counsel.  ^ 

Louis  Joliet  was  the  son  of  a  wagon-maker  in  the 
service  of  the  Company  of  the  Hundred  Associates," 
then  owners  of  Canada.  He  was  born  at  Quebec  in 
1645,  and  was  educated  by  the  Jesuits.  When  still 
very  young,  he  resolved  to  be  a  priest.  He  received 
the  tonsure  and  the  minor  orders  at  the  age  of  seven- 

1  Lettre  de  Frontenac  au  Ministre,  2  Nov.,  1672 ;  Ibid.,  14  Nov.,  1674. 

2  See  "  The  Jesuits  in  North  America." 


58      THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE   MISSISSIPPI.     [1673. 

teen.  Four  years  after,  he  is  mentioned  with  especial 
honor  for  the  part  he  bore  in  the  disputes  in  phil- 
osophy, at  which  the  dignitaries  of  the  colony  were 
present,  and  in  which  tlie  intendant  himself  took 
part.i  Not  long  after,  he  renounced  his  clerical 
vocation,  and  turned  fur-trader.  Talon  sent  him, 
with  one  Pdrd,  to  explore  the  copper-mines  of  Lake 
Superior;  and  it  was  on  liis  return  from  this  expedi- 
tion that  he  met  La  Salle  and  the  Sulpitians  near  the 
head  of  Lake  Ontario.^ 

In  what  we  know  of  Joliet,  there  is  nothing  that 
reveals  any  salient  or  distinctive  trait  of  character, 
any  especial  breadth  of  view  or  boldness  of  design. 
He  appears  to  have  been  simply  a  merchant,  intelli- 
gent, well  educated,  courageous,  hardy,  and  enter- 
prising. Though  he  had  renounced  the  priesthood, 
he  retained  his  partiality  for  the  Jesuits ;  and  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  their  influence  had  aided 
not  a  little  to  determine  Talon's  choice.     One  of  their 

1  "  Le  2  Juillet  (1666)  les  premieres  disputes  de  philosophie  se 
font  dans  la  congregation  avec  succcs.  Toutes  les  puissances  s'y 
trouvent ;  M.  I'lntendant  entr'autres  y  a  argumente'  tres-bien.  M. 
Jolliet  et  Pierre  Francheville  y  ont  tres-bien  repondu  de  toute  la 
logique."  —  Journal  des  Jesuites. 

2  Nothing  was  known  of  Joliet  till  Shea  investigated  his  history. 
Ferland,  in  his  Notes  sttr  les  Reyistres  de  Notre-Dame  de  Quebec; 
Faillon,  in  his  Colonie  Fram^aise  en  Canada;  and  Margry,  in  a  series 
of  papers  in  the  Journal  General  de  I' Instruction  Publique,  —  have 
thrown  much  new  light  on  his  life.  From  journals  of  a  voyage 
made  by  him  at  a  later  period  to  the  coast  of  Labrador,  given  in 
substance  by  Margry,  he  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  close  and 
intelligent  observation.  His  mathematical  acquirements  appear  to 
have  been  very  considerable. 


1673.]  MARQUETTE.  69 

number,  Jacques  Marquette,  was  chosen  to  accompany 
him. 

He  passed  up  the  lakes  to  Michilimackinac,  and 
found  his  destined  companion  at  Point  St.  Ignace,  on 
the  north  side  of  the  strait,  where,  in  his  palisaded 
mission-house  and  chapel,  he  had  labored  for  two 
years  past  to  instruct  the  Huron  refugees  from  St. 
Esprit,  and  a  band  of  Ottawas  who  had  joined  them. 
Marquette  was  born  in  1637,  of  an  old  and  honor- 
able family  at  Laon,  in  the  north  of  France,  and  was 
now  thirty-five  years  of  age.  When  about  seventeen, 
he  had  joined  the  Jesuits,  evidently  from  motives 
purely  religious;  and  in  1666  he  was  sent  to  the  mis- 
sions of  Canada.  At  first,  he  was  destined  to  the 
station  of  Tadoussac ;  and  to  prepare  himself  for  it, 
he  studied  the  Montagnais  language  under  Gabriel 
Druilletes.  But  his  destination  was  changed,  and  he 
was  sent  to  the  Upper  Lakes  in  1668,  where  he  had 
since  remained.  His  talents  as  a  linguist  must  have 
been  great;  for  within  a  few  years  he  learned  to 
speak  with  ease  six  Indian  languages.  The  traits 
of  his  character  are  unmistakable.  He  was  of  the 
brotherhood  of  the  early  Canadian  missionaries,  and 
the  true  counterpart  of  Garnier  or  Jogues.  He  was 
a  devout  votary  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  who,  imaged  to 
his  mind  in  shapes  of  the  most  transcendent  loveli- 
ness with  which  the  pencil  of  human  genius  has  ever 
informed  the  canvas,  was  to  him  the  object  of  an 
adoration  not  unmingled  with  a  sentiment  of  chival- 
rous devotion.     The  longings  of  a  sensitive  heart, 


60      THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.     [1673. 

divorced  from  earth,  sought  solace  in  the  skies.  A 
subtile  element  of  romance  was  blended  with  the 
fervor  of  his  worship,  and  hung  like  an  illumined 
cloud  over  the  harsh  and  hard  realities  of  his  daily 
lot.  Kindled  by  the  smile  of  his  celestial  mistress, 
his  gentle  and  noble  nature  knew  no  fear.  For  her 
he  burned  to  dare  and  to  suffer,  discover  new  lands 
and  conquer  new  realms  to  her  sway. 

He  begins  the  journal  of  his  voyage  thus:  "The 
day  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Holy 
Virgin;  whom  I  had  continually  invoked  since  I 
came  to  this  country  of  the  Ottawas  to  obtain  from 
God  the  favor  of  being  enabled  to  visit  the  nations  on 
the  river  Mississippi,  —  this  very  day  was  precisely 
that  on  which  M.  Joliet  arrived  with  orders  from 
Count  Frontenac,  our  governor,  and  from  M.  Talon, 
our  intendant,  to  go  with  me  on  this  discovery.  I 
was  all  the  more  delighted  at  this  good  news,  because 
I  saw  my  plans  about  to  be  accomplished,  and  found 
myself  in  the  happy  necessity  of  exposing  my  life  for 
the  salvation  of  all  these  tribes,  —  and  especially  of 
the  Illinois,  who,  when  I  was  at  Point  St.  Esprit, 
had  begged  me  very  earnestly  to  bring  the  word  of 
God  among  them." 

The  outfit  of  the  travellers  was  very  simple. 
They  provided  themselves  with  two  birch  canoes,  and 
a  supply  of  smoked  meat  and  Indian  corn ;  embarked 
with  five  men,  and  began  their  voyage  on  the  seven- 
teenth of  May.  They  had  obtained  all  possible  infor- 
mation from  the  Indians,  and  had  made,  by  means 


1673.]  DEPARTURE.  61 

of  it,  a  species  of  map  of  their  intended  route. 
"Above  all,"  writes  Marquette,  "I  placed  our  voyage 
under  the  protection  of  the  Holy  Virgin  Immaculate, 
promising  that  if  she  granted  us  the  favor  of  dis- 
covering the  great  river,  I  would  give  it  the  name  of 
the  Conception. "  1  Their  course  was  westward;  and, 
pljdng  their  paddles,  they  passed  the  Straits  of 
Michilimackinac,  and  coasted  the  northern  shores 
of  Lake  Michigan,  landing  at  evening  to  build  their 
camp-fire  at  the  edge  of  the  forest,  and  draw  up  their 
canoes  on  the  strand.  They  soon  reached  the  river 
Menomonie,  and  ascended  it  to  the  village  of  the 
Menomonies,  or  Wild-rice  Indians. ^  When  they 
told  them  the  object  of  their  voyage,  they  were  filled 
with  astonishment,  and  used  their  best  ingenuity  to 
dissuade  them.  The  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  they 
said,  were  inhabited  by  ferocious  tribes,  who  put  every 
stranger  to  death,  tomahawking  all  new-comers  with- 
out cause  or  provocation.  They  added  that  there 
was  a  demon  in  a  certain  part  of  the  river,  whose 
roar  could  be  heard  at  a  great  distance,  and  who 
would  engulf  them  in  the  abyss  where  he  dwelt;  that 
its  waters  were  full  of  frightful  monsters,  who  would 
devour  them  and  their  canoe;  and,  finally,  that  the 

1  The  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  sanctioned  in  our 
own  time  by  the  Pope,  was  always  a  favorite  tenet  of  the  Jesuits ; 
and  Marquette  was  especially  devoted  to  it. 

2  The  Malhoumines,  Malouminek,  Oumalouminek,  or  Nation  des 
FoUes-Avoines,  of  early  French  writers.  The  foUe-avoine,  wild  oats 
or  "wild  rice"  (Zizania  aqualica),  was  their  ordinary  food,  as  also 
of  other  tribes  of  this  region. 


62      THE   DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.     [1673. 

heat  was  so  great  that  they  would  perish  inevitably. 
Marquette  set  their  counsel  at  naught,  gave  them  a 
few  words  of  instruction  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Faith, 
taught  them  a  prayer,  and  bade  them  farewell. 

The  travellers  next  reached  the  mission  at  the  head 
of  Green  Bay;  entered  Fox  River;  with  difficulty 
and  labor  dragged  their  canoes  up  the  long  and 
tumultuous  rapids;  crossed  Lake  Winnebago;  and 
followed  the  quiet  windings  of  the  river  beyond, 
where  they  glided  through  an  endless  growth  of  wild 
rice,  and  scared  the  innumerable  birds  that  fed  upon  it. 
On  either  hand  rolled  the  prairie,  dotted  with  groves 
and  trees,  browsing  elk  and  deer.^  On  the  seventh 
of  June,  they  reached  the  Mascoutins  and  Miamis, 
who,  since  the  visit  of  Dablon  and  Allouez,  had  been 
joined  by  the  Kickapoos.  Marquette,  who  had  an 
eye  for  natural  beauty,  was  delighted  with  the  situa- 
tion of  the  town,  which  he  describes  as  standing  on 
the  crown  of  a  hill;  while,  all  around,  the  prairie 
stretched  beyond  the  sight,  interspersed  with  groves 
and  belts  of  tall  forest.  But  he  was  still  more 
delighted  when  he  saw  a  cross  planted  in  the  midst 
of  the  place.  The  Indians  had  decorated  it  with  a 
number  of  dressed  deer-skins,  red  girdles,  and  bows 
and  arrows,  which  they  had  hung  upon  it  as  an  offer- 
ing to  the  Great  Manitou  of  the  French ;  a  sight  by 
wliich  Marquette  says  he  was  "extremely  consoled." 

1  Dablon,  on  his  journey  with  Allouez  in  1670,  was  delighted 
with  the  aspect  of  the  country  and  the  abundance  of  game  along 
this  river.  Carver,  a  century  later,  speaks  to  the  same  effect,  say- 
ing that  the  birds  rose  up  in  clouds  from  the  wild-rice  marshes. 


1673.]  THE  WISCONSIN   RIVER.  63 

The  travellers  had  no  sooner  reached  the  town  than 
they  called  the  chiefs  and  elders  to  a  council.  Joliet 
told  them  that  the  governor  of  Canada  had  sent  him 
to  discover  new  countries,  and  that  God  had  sent  his 
companion  to  teach  the  true  faith  to  the  inhabitants; 
and  he  prayed  for  guides  to  show  them  the  way  to 
the  waters  of  the  Wisconsin.  The  council  readily 
consented ;  and  on  the  tenth  of  June  the  Frenchmen 
embarked  again,  with  two  Indians  to  conduct  them. 
All  the  town  came  down  to  the  shore  to  see  their 
departure.  Here  were  the  Miamis,  with  long  locks 
of  hair  dangling  over  each  ear,  after  a  fashion  which 
Marquette  thought  very  becoming ;  and  here,  too,  the 
Mascoutins  and  the  Kickapoos,  whom  he  describes 
as  mere  boors  in  comparison  with  their  Miami  towns- 
men. All  stared  alike  at  the  seven  adventurers, 
marvelling  that  men  could  be  found  to  risk  an 
enterprise  so  hazardous. 

The  river  twisted  among  lakes  and  marshes  choked 
with  wild  rice ;  and,  but  for  their  guides,  they  could 
scarcely  have  followed  the  perplexed  and  narrow 
channel.  It  brought  them  at  last  to  the  portage, 
where,  after  carrying  their  canoes  a  mile  and  a  half 
over  the  prairie  and  through  the  marsh,  they  launched 
them  on  the  Wisconsin,  bade  farewell  to  the  waters 
that  flowed  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  committed 
themselves  to  the  current  that  was  to  bear  them  they 
knew  not  whither,  —  perhaps  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
perhaps  to  the  South  Sea  or  the  Gulf  of  California. 
They   glided   calmly  down  the  tranquil  stream,  by 


64      THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.     [1673. 

islands  choked  with  trees  and  matted  with  entan- 
gling grape-vines ;  by  forests,  groves,  and  prairies,  the 
parks  and  pleasure-grounds  of  a  prodigal  Nature ;  by 
thickets  and  marshes  and  broad  bare  sand-bars ;  under 
the  shadowing  trees,  between  whose  tops  looked  down 
from  afar  the  bold  brow  of  some  woody  bluff.  At 
night,  the  bivouac,  —  the  canoes  inverted  on  the 
bank,  the  flickering  fire,  the  meal  of  bison-flesh  or 
venison,  the  evening  pipes,  and  slumber  beneath  the 
stars ;  and  when  in  the  morning  they  embarked  again, 
the  mist  hung  on  the  river  like  a  bridal  veil,  then 
melted  before  the  sun,  till  the  glassy  water  and  the 
languid  woods  basked  breathless  in  the  sultry  glare. ^ 

On  the  seventeenth  of  June  they  saw  on  their  right 
the  broad  meadows,  bounded  in  the  distance  by  rugged 
hills,  where  now  stand  the  town  and  fort  of  Prairie 
du  Chien.  Before  them  a  wide  and  rapid  current 
coursed  athwart  their  way,  by  the  foot  of  lofty 
heights  wrapped  thick  in  forests.  They  had  found 
what  they  sought,  and  "with  a  joy,"  writes  Mar- 
quette, "which  I  cannot  express,"  they  steered  forth 
their  canoes  on  the  eddies  of  the  Mississippi. 

Turning  southward,  they  paddled  down  the  stream, 
through  a  solitude  unrelieved  by  the  faintest  trace  of 
man.  A  large  fish,  apparently  one  of  the  huge  cat- 
fish of  the  Mississippi,  blundered  against  Marquette's 
canoe,  with  a  force  which  seems  to  have  startled 
him ;  and  once,  as  they  drew  in  their  net,  they  caught 

1  The  above  traits  of  the  scenery  of  the  Wisconsin  are  taken 
from  personal  observation  of  the  river  during  midsummer. 


1673.]  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  65 

a  "spade-fish,"  whose  eccentric  appearance  greatly 
astonished  them.  At  length  the  buffalo  began  to 
appear,  grazing  in  herds  on  the  great  prairies  which 
then  bordered  the  river ;  and  Marquette  describes  the 
fierce  and  stupid  look  of  the  old  bulls,  as  they  stared 
at  the  intruders  through  the  tangled  mane  which 
nearly  blinded  them. 

They  advanced  with  extreme  caution,  landed  at 
night,  and  made  a  fire  to  cook  their  evening  meal; 
then  extinguished  it,  embarked  again,  paddled  some 
way  farther,  and  anchored  in  the  stream,  keeping  a 
man  on  the  watch  till  morning.  They  had  journeyed 
more  than  a  fortnight  without  meeting  a  human 
being,  when,  on  the  twenty-fifth,  they  discovered 
footprints  of  men  in  the  mud  of  the  western  bank, 
and  a  well-trodden  path  that  led  to  the  adjacent 
prairie.  Joliet  and  Marquette  resolved  to  follow  it ; 
and  leaving  the  canoes  in  charge  of  their  men,  they 
set  out  on  their  hazardous  adventure.  The  day  was 
fair,  and  they  walked  two  leagues  in  silence,  follow- 
ing the  path  through  the  forest  and  across  the  sunny 
prairie,  till  they  discovered  an  Indian  village  on  the 
banks  of  a  river,  and  two  others  on  a  hill  half  a 
league  distant.  ^  Now,  with  beating  hearts,  they 
invoked  the  aid  of  Heaven,  and,  again  advancing, 
came  so  near,  without  being  seen,  that  they  could 

1  The  Indian  villages,  under  the  names  of  Peouaria  (Peoria)  and 
Moingouena,  are  represented  in  Marquette's  map  upon  a  river  cor- 
responding in  position  with  the  Des  Moines ;  though  the  distance 
from  the  Wisconsin,  as  given  by  him,  would  indicate  a  river  farther 
north. 

VOL.   I.  — 5 


66       THE   DISCOVERY  OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI.    [1673. 

hear  the  voices  of  the  Indians  among  the  wigwams. 
Then  they  stood  forth  in  full  view,  and  shouted  to 
attract  attention.  There  was  great  commotion  in  the 
village.  The  inmates  swarmed  out  of  their  huts,  and 
four  of  their  chief  men  presently  came  forward  to 
meet  the  strangers,  advancing  very  deliberately,  and 
holding  up  toward  the  sun  two  calumets,  or  peace- 
pipes,  decorated  with  feathers.  They  stopped 
abruptly  before  the  two  Frenchmen,  and  stood  gaz- 
ing at  them  without  speaking  a  word.  Marquette 
was  much  relieved  on  seeing  that  they  wore  French 
cloth,  whence  he  judged  that  they  must  be  friends 
and  allies.  He  broke  the  silence,  and  asked  them 
who  they  were ;  whereupon  they  answered  that  they 
were  Illinois,  and  offered  the  pipe;  which  having 
been  duly  smoked,  they  all  went  together  to  the 
village.  Here  the  chief  received  the  travellers  after 
a  sincfular  fashion,  meant  to  do  them  honor.  He 
stood  stark  naked  at  the  door  of  a  large  wigwam, 
holding  up  both  hands  as  if  to  shield  his  eyes. 
"Frenchmen,  how  bright  the  sun  shines  when  you 
come  to  visit  us!  All  our  -vdllage  awaits  you;  and 
you  shall  enter  our  wigwams  in  peace."  So  saying, 
he  led  them  into  his  own,  which  was  crowded  to 
suffocation  with  savages,  staring  at  their  guests  in 
silence.  Having  smoked  with  the  chiefs  and  old 
men,  they  were  invited  to  visit  the  great  chief  of  all 
the  Illinois,  at  one  of  the  villages  they  had  seen  in 
the  distance;  and  thither  they  proceeded,  followed 
by  a  throng  of  warriors,  squaws,  and  children.     On 


1673.]  THE  ILLINOIS  INDIANS.  67 

arriving,  they  were  forced  to  smoke  again,  and  listen 
to  a  speech  of  welcome  from  the  great  chief,  who 
delivered  it  standing  between  two  old  men,  naked 
like  himself.  His  lodge  was  crowded  with  the  digni- 
taries of  the  tribe,  whom  Marquette  addressed  in 
Algonquin,  announcing  himseK  as  a  messenger  sent 
by  the  God  who  had  made  them,  and  whom  it 
behooves  them  to  recognize  and  obey.  He  added  a 
few  words  touching  the  power  and  glory  of  Count 
Frontenac,  and  concluded  by  asking  information 
concerning  the  Mississippi,  and  the  tribes  along  its 
banks,  whom  he  was  on  his  way  to  visit.  The  chief 
replied  with  a  speech  of  compliment ;  assuring  his 
guests  that  their  presence  added  flavor  to  his  tobacco, 
made  the  river  more  calm,  the  sky  more  serene,  and 
the  earth  more  beautiful.  In  conclusion,  he  gave 
them  a  young  slave  and  a  calumet,  begging  them 
at  the  same  time  to  abandon  their  purpose  of  de- 
scending the  Mississippi. 

A  feast  of  four  courses  now  followed.  First,  a 
wooden  bowl  full  of  a  porridge  of  Indian  meal  boiled 
with  grease  was  set  before  the  guests ;  and  the  master 
of  ceremonies  fed  them  in  turn,  like  infants,  with  a 
large  spoon.  Then  appeared  a  platter  of  fish;  and 
the  same  functionary,  carefully  removing  the  bones 
with  his  fingers,  and  blowing  on  the  morsels  to  cool 
them,  placed  them  in  the  mouths  of  the  two  French- 
men. A  large  dog,  killed  and  cooked  for  the  occa- 
sion, was  next  placed  before  them;  but,  failing  to 
tempt  their  fastidious  appetites,  was  supplanted  by  a 


68     THE   DISCOVERY  OF   THE  MISSISSIPPI.     [1673. 

disli  of  fat  buffalo-meat,  which  concluded  the  enter- 
tainment. The  crowd  having  dispersed,  buffalo-robes 
were  spread  on  the  ground,  and  Marquette  and 
Joliet  spent  the  night  on  the  scene  of  the  late  festiv- 
ity. In  the  morning,  tlie  chief,  with  some  six 
hundred  of  his  tribesmen,  escorted  them  to  their 
canoes,  and  bade  them,  after  their  stolid  fashion,  a 
friendly  farewell. 

Again  they  were  on  their  way,  slowly  drifting 
down  the  great  river.  They  passed  the  mouth  of  the 
Illinois,  and  glided  beneath  that  line  of  rocks  on  the 
eastern  side,  cut  into  fantastic  forms  by  the  elements, 
and  marked  as  "  The  Ruined  Castles  "  on  some  of  the 
early  French  maps.  Presently  they  beheld  a  sight 
which  reminded  them  that  the  Devil  was  still  lord 
paramount  of  this  wilderness.  On  the  flat  face  of 
a  high  rock  were  painted,  in  red,  black,  and  green,  a 
pair  of  monsters,  each  "  as  large  as  a  calf,  with  horns 
like  a  deer,  red  eyes,  a  beard  like  a  tiger,  and  a 
frightful  expression  of  countenance.  The  face  is 
something  like  that  of  a  man,  the  body  covered  with 
scales;  and  the  tail  so  long  that  it  passes  entirely 
round  the  body,  over  the  head  and  between  the  legs, 
ending  like  that  of  a  fish."  Such  is  the  account 
which  the  worthy  Jesuit  gives  of  these  manitous,  or 
Indian  gods.^     He  confesses  that  at  first  they  fright- 

1  The  rock  where  these  figures  were  painted  is  immediately  above 
the  city  of  Alton.  The  tradition  of  their  existence  remains,  though 
they  are  entirely  effaced  by  time.  In  1867,  when  I  passed  the  place, 
a  part  of  the  rock  had  been  quarried  away,  and,  instead  of  Mar- 
quette's monsters,  it  bore  a  huge  advertisement  of  "Plantation 


1673.]  A   REAL  DANGER.  69 

ened  him ;  and  his  imagination  and  that  of  his  credu- 
lous companions  was  so  wrought  upon  by  these 
unhallowed  efforts  of  Indian  art,  that  they  continued 
for  a  long  time  to  talk  of  them  as  they  plied  their 
paddles.  They  were  thus  engaged,  when  they  were 
suddenly  aroused  by  a  real  danger.  A  torrent  of 
yellow  mud  rushed  furiously  athwart  the  calm  blue 
current  of  the  Mississippi,  boiling  and  surging,  and 
sweeping  in  its  course  logs,  branches,  and  uprooted 
trees.  They  had  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri, 
where  that  savage  river,  descending  from  its  mad 
career  through  a  vast  unknown  of  barbarism,  poured 
its  turbid  floods  into  the  bosom  of  its  gentler  sister. 
Their  light  canoes  whirled  on  the  miry  vortex  like 
dry  leaves  on  an  angry  brook.  "I  never,"  writes 
Marquette,  "saw  anj^hing  more  terrific;"  but  they 
escaped  with  their  fright,  and  held  their  way  down 
the  turbulent  and  swollen  current  of  the  now  united 
rivers.^     They  passed  the  lonely  forest  that  covered 

Bitters."  Some  years  ago,  certain  persons,  with  more  zeal  than 
knowledge,  proposed  to  restore  the  figures,  after  conceptions  of 
their  own ;  but  the  idea  was  abandoned. 

Marquette  made  a  drawing  of  the  two  monsters,  but  it  is  lost.  I 
have,  however,  a  fac-simile  of  a  map  made  a  few  years  later,  by 
order  of  the  Intendant  Duchesneau,  which  is  decorated  with  the 
portrait  of  one  of  them,  answering  to  Marquette's  description,  and 
probably  copied  from  his  drawing.  St.  Cosme,  who  saw  them  in 
1699,  says  that  they  were  even  then  almost  effaced.  Douay  and 
Joutel  also  speak  of  them,  —  the  former,  bitterly  hostile  to  his 
Jesuit  contemporaries,  charging  Marquette  with  exaggeration  in 
his  account  of  them.  Joutel  could  see  nothing  terrifying  in  their 
appearance ;  but  he  says  that  his  Indians  made  sacrifices  to  them 
as  they  passed. 

1  The  Missouri  is  called  "Pekitanoui"  by  Marquette.    It  also 


70       THE   DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.    [1673. 

the  site  of  the  destined  city  of  St.  Louis,  and,  a 
few  days  later,  saw  on  their  left  the  mouth  of  the 
stream  to  which  the  Iroquois  had  given  the  well- 
merited  name  of  Ohio,  or  the  "Beautiful  River."  ^ 
Soon  they  began  to  see  the  marshy  shores  buried  in 
a  dense  growth  of  the  cane,  with  its  tall  straight 
stems  and  feathery  light-green  foliage.  The  sun 
glowed  through  the  hazy  air  with  a  languid  stifling 
heat,  and  by  day  and  night  mosquitoes  in  myriads 
left  them  no  peace.  They  floated  slowly  down  the 
current,  crouched  in  the  shade  of  the  sails  which 
they  had  spread  as  awnings,  when  suddenly  they 
saw  Indians  on  the  east  bank.  The  surprise  was 
mutual,  and  each  party  was  as  much  frightened  as 
the  other.  Marquette  hastened  to  display  the  calu- 
met which  the  Illinois  had  given  him  by  way  of 
passport;  and  the  Indians,  recognizing  the  pacific 
symbol,  replied  with  an  invitation  to  land.  Evi- 
dently, they  were  in  communication  with  Europeans, 
for  they  were  armed  with  guns,  knives,  and  hatchets, 
wore  garments  of  cloth,  and  carried  their  gunpowder 
in  small  bottles  of  thick  glass.  They  feasted  the 
Frenchmen  with  buffalo-meat,  bear's  oil,  and  white 
plums;   and   gave   them   a   variety   of   doubtful  in- 

bears,  on  early  French  maps,  the  names  of  "  Riviere  des  Osages," 
and  "  Riviere  des  Emissourites,"  or  "  Oumessourits."  On  Mar- 
quette's map,  a  tribe  of  this  name  is  placed  near  its  banks,  just 
above  the  Osages.  Judging  by  the  course  of  the  Mississippi  that  it 
discharged  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  he  conceived  the  hope  of  one 
day  reaching  the  South  Sea  by  way  of  the  Missouri. 

^  Called,  on  Marquette's  map, "  Ouabouskiaou."    On  some  of  the 
earliest  maps,  it  is  called  "  Ouabache  "  (Wabash), 


1673.]  THE  LOWER  MISSISSIPPI.  71 

formation,  including  the  agreeable  but  delusive  assur- 
ance that  they  would  reach  the  mouth  of  the  river 
in  ten  days.  It  was,  in  fact,  more  than  a  thousand 
miles  distant. 

They  resumed  their  course,  and  again  floated  down 
the  interminable  monotony  of  river,  marsh,  and 
forest.  Day  after  day  passed  on  in  solitude,  and 
they  had  paddled  some  three  hundred  miles  since 
their  meeting  with  the  Indians,  when,  as  they  neared 
the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  they  saw  a  cluster  of 
wigwams  on  the  west  bank.  Their  inmates  were  all 
astir,  yelling  the  war-whoop,  snatching  their  weapons, 
and  running  to  the  shore  to  meet  the  strangers,  who, 
on  their  part,  called  for  succor  to  the  Virgin.  In 
truth,  they  had  need  of  her  aid;  for  several  large 
wooden  canoes,  filled  with  savages,  were  putting  out 
from  the  shore,  above  and  below  them,  to  cut  off 
their  retreat,  wliile  a  swarm  of  headlong  young  war- 
riors waded  into  the  water  to  attack  them.  The 
current  proved  too  strong;  and,  failing  to  reach  the 
canoes  of  the  Frenchmen,  one  of  them  threw  his  war- 
club,  which  flew  over  the  heads  of  the  startled  travel- 
lers. Meanwhile,  Marquette  had  not  ceased  to  hold 
up  his  calumet,  to  which  the  excited  crowd  gave  no 
heed,  but  strung  their  bows  and  notched  their  arrows 
for  immediate  action;  when  at  length  the  elders  of 
the  village  arrived,  saw  the  peace-pipe,  restrained 
the  ardor  of  the  youth,  and  urged  the  Frenchmen  to 
come  ashore.  Marquette  and  his  companions  com- 
plied, trembling,  and  found  a  better  reception  than 


72       THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.    [1673. 

they  had  reason  to  expect.  One  of  the  Indians 
spoke  a  little  Illinois,  and  served  as  interpreter;  a 
friendly  conference  was  followed  by  a  feast  of  saga- 
mite  and  fish;  and  the  travellers,  not  without  sore 
misgivings,  spent  the  night  in  the  lodges  of  their 
entertainers.  1 

Early  in  the  morning,  they  embarked  again,  and 
proceeded  to  a  village  of  the  Arkansas  tribe,  about 
eight  leagues  below.  Notice  of  their  coming  was 
sent  before  them  by  their  late  hosts;  and  as  they 
drew  near  they  were  met  by  a  canoe,  in  the  prow  of 
which  stood  a  naked  personage,  holding  a  calumet, 
singing,  and  making  gestures  of  friendship.  On 
reaching  the  village,  which  was  on  the  east  side,^ 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  river  Arkansas,  they  were 
conducted  to  a  sort  of  scaffold,  before  the  lodge  of 
the  war-chief.  The  space  beneath  had  been  prepared 
for  their  reception,  the  ground  being  neatly  covered 
with  rush  mats.  On  these  they  were  seated;  the 
warriors  sat  around  them  in  a  semi-circle;  then  the 
elders  of  the  tribe ;  and  then  the  promiscuous  crowd 
of  villagers,  standing,  and  staring  over  the  heads  of 
the  more  dignified  members  of  the  assembly.  All 
the  men  were  naked ;  but,  to  compensate  for  the  lack 
of  clothing,  they  wore  strings  of  beads  in  their  noses 
and  ears.  The  women  were  clothed  in  shabby  skins, 
and  wore  their  hair  clumped  in  a  mass  behind  each 

1  This  village,  called  "  Mitchigamea,"  is  represented  on  several 
contemporary  maps. 

2  A  few  years  later,  the  Arkansas  were  all  on  tlic  west  side. 


1673.]  THE  ARKANSAS.  73 

ear.  By  good  luck,  there  was  a  young  Indian  in  the 
village,  who  had  an  excellent  knowledge  of  Illinois ; 
and  through  him  Marquette  endeavored  to  explain 
the  mysteries  of  Christianity,  and  to  gain  information 
concerning  the  river  below.  To  this  end  he  gave  his 
auditors  the  presents  indispensable  on  such  occasions, 
but  received  very  little  in  return.  They  told  him 
that  the  Mississippi  was  infested  by  hostile  Indians, 
armed  with  guns  procured  from  white  men ;  and  that 
they,  the  Arkansas,  stood  in  such  fear  of  them  that 
they  dared  not  hunt  the  buffalo,  but  were  forced  to 
live  on  Indian  com,  of  which  they  raised  three  crops 
a  year. 

During  the  speeches  on  either  side,  food  was 
brought  in  without  ceasing,  —  sometimes  a  platter  of 
sagamite  or  mush ;  sometimes  of  corn  boiled  whole ; 
sometimes  a  roasted  dog.  The  villagers  had  large 
earthen  pots  and  platters,  made  by  themselves  with 
tolerable  skill,  as  well  as  hatchets,  knives,  and  beads, 
gained  by  traffic  with  the  Illinois  and  other  tribes  in 
contact  with  the  French  or  Spaniards.  All  day  there 
was  feasting  without  respite,  after  the  merciless 
practice  of  Indian  hospitality;  but  at  night  some  of 
their  entertainers  proposed  to  kill  and  plunder  them, 
—  a  scheme  which  was  defeated  by  the  vigilance  of 
the  chief,  who  visited  their  quarters,  and  danced  the 
calumet  dance  to  reassure  his  guests. 

The  travellers  now  held  counsel  as  to  what  course 
they  should  take.  They  had  gone  far  enough,  as 
they  thought,   to  establish  one   important  point,  — 


74      THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.     [1673. 

that  the  Mississippi  discharged  its  waters,  not  into 
the  Atlantic  or  sea  of  Virginia,  nor  into  the  Gulf  of 
California  or  Vermilion  Sea,  but  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  They  thought  themselves  nearer  to  its 
mouth  than  they  actually  were,  the  distance  being 
still  about  seven  hundred  miles;  and  they  feared 
that  if  they  went  farther  they  might  be  killed  by 
Indians  or  captured  by  Spaniards,  whereby  the  results 
of  their  discovery  would  be  lost.  Therefore  they 
resolved  to  return  to  Canada,  and  report  what  they 
had  seen. 

They  left  the  Arkansas  village,  and  began  their 
homeward  voyage  on  the  seventeenth  of  July.  It 
was  no  easy  task  to  urge  their  way  upward,  in  the 
heat  of  midsummer,  against  the  current  of  the  dark 
and  gloomy  stream,  toiling  all  day  under  the  parch- 
ing sun,  and  sleeping  at  night  in  the  exhalations  of 
the  unwholesome  shore,  or  in  the  narrow  confines  of 
their  birchen  vessels,  anchored  on  the  river.  Mar- 
quette was  attacked  with  dysentery.  Languid  and 
well-nigh  spent,  he  invoked  his  celestial  mistress,  as 
day  after  day,  and  week  after  week,  they  won  their 
slow  way  northward.  At  length,  they  reached  the 
Illinois,  and,  entering  its  mouth,  followed  its  course, 
charmed,  as  they  went,  with  its  placid  waters,  its 
shady  forests,  and  its  rich  plains,  grazed  by  the  bison 
and  the  deer.  They  stopped  at  a  spot  soon  to  be 
made  famous  in  the  annals  of  western  discovery. 
This  was  a  village  of  the  Illinois,  then  called 
"  Kaskaskia ; "    a    name    afterwards    transferred    to 


1673.]  RETURN  TO  CANADA.  75 

another  locality.^  A  chief,  with  a  band  of  young  war- 
riors, offered  to  guide  them  to  the  Lake  of  the  Illinois ; 
that  is  to  say,  Lake  Michigan.  Thither  they  repaired; 
and,  coasting  its  shores,  reached  Green  Bay  at  the  end 
of  September,  after  an  absence  of  about  four  months, 
during  which  they  had  paddled  their  canoes  some- 
what more  than  two  thousand  five  hundred  miles. ^ 

Marquette  remained  to  recruit  his  exhausted 
strength;  but  Joliet  descended  to  Quebec,  to  bear 
the  report  of  his  discovery  to  Count  Frontenac. 
Fortune  had  wonderfully  favored  him  on  his  long 
and  perilous  journey ;  but  now  she  abandoned  him  on 
the  very  threshold  of  home.  At  the  foot  of  the 
rapids  of  La  Chine,  and  immediately  above  Montreal, 

1  Marquette  says  that  it  consisted  at  this  time  of  seventy-four 
lodges.  These,  like  the  Huron  and  Iroquois  lodges,  contained  each 
several  fires  and  several  families.  This  village  was  about  seven 
miles  below  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Ottawa. 

^  The  journal  of  Marquette,  first  published  in  an  imperfect  form 
by  Thevenot,  in  1681,  has  been  reprinted  by  Mr.  Lenox,  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Shea,  from  the  manuscript  preserved  in  the  arch- 
ives of  the  Canadian  Jesuits.  It  will  also  be  found  in  Shea's  Dis- 
covery and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  the  Relations 
Inedites  of  Martin.  The  true  map  of  Marquette  accompanies  all 
these  publications.  The  map  published  by  Thevenot  and  repro- 
duced by  Bancroft  is  not  Marquette's.  The  original  of  this,  of 
which  I  have  a  fac-simile,  bears  the  title  Carte  de  la  Nouvelle 
Decouverte  que  les  Peres  Jesuites  ont  faite  en  I'annee  1672,  et  con- 
timcee  par  le  Pere  Jacques  Marquette,  etc.  The  return  route  of  the 
expedition  is  incorrectly  laid  down  on  it.  A  manuscript  map  of 
the  Jesuit  Raffeix,  preserved  in  the  Biblioth^que  Imp^riale,  is  more 
accurate  in  this  particular.  I  have  also  another  contemporary  manu- 
script map,  indicating  the  various  Jesuit  stations  in  the  West  at 
this  time,  and  representing  the  Mississippi,  as  discovered  by  Mar- 
quette.   For  these  and  other  maps,  see  Appendix. 


76       THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.    [1674. 

his  canoe  was  overset,  two  of  his  men  and  an  Indian 
boy  were  drowned,  all  his  papers  were  lost,  and  he 
himself  narrowly  escaped.^  In  a  letter  to  Frontenac, 
he  speaks  of  the  accident  as  follows :  "  I  had  escaped 
every  peril  from  the  Indians ;  I  had  passed  forty-two 
rapids;  and  was  on  the  point  of  disembarking,  full 
of  joy  at  the  success  of  so  long  and  difficult  an  enter- 
prise, when  my  canoe  capsized,  after  all  the  danger 
seemed  over.  I  lost  two  men  and  my  box  of  papers, 
within  sight  of  the  first  French  settlements,  which  I 
had  left  almost  two  years  before.  Nothing  remains 
to  me  but  my  life,  and  the  ardent  desire  to  employ  it 
on  any  service  which  you  may  please  to  direct."  ^ 

1  Lettre  de  Frontenac  au  Mtnistre,  Quebec,  14  Nov.,  1074. 

2  This  letter  is  appended  to  Joliet's  smaller  map  of  his  discov- 
eries. See  Appendix.  Compare  Details  sur  le  Voyage  de  Louis  Joliet 
and  Relation  de  la  Descouverte  de  plusieurs  Pays  situez  au  midi  de  la 
Nouvelle  France,  faite  en  1673  (Margry,  i.  269).  These  are  oral 
accounts  given  by  Joliet  after  the  loss  of  his  papers.  Also,  Lettre 
de  Joliet,  Oct.  10,  1674  (Harrisse).  On  the  seventh  of  October,  1675, 
Joliet  married  Claire  Bissot,  daughter  of  a  wealthy  Canadian  mer- 
chant, engaged  in  trade  with  the  northern  Indians.  This  drew 
Joliet's  attention  to  Hudson's  Bay;  and  he  made  a  journey  thither 
in  1679,  by  way  of  the  Saguenay.  He  found  three  English  forts  on 
the  bay,  occupied  by  about  sixty  men,  who  had  also  an  armed  vessel 
of  twelve  guns  and  several  small  trading-craft.  The  English  held 
out  great  inducements  to  Joliet  to  join  them ;  but  he  declined,  and 
returned  to  Quebec,  where  he  reported  that  unless  these  formidable 
rivals  were  dispossessed,  the  trade  of  Canada  would  be  ruined.  In 
consequence  of  this  report,  some  of  the  principal  merchants  of  the 
colony  formed  a  company  to  compete  with  the  English  in  the  trade 
of  Hudson's  Bay.  In  the  year  of  this  journey,  Joliet  received  a 
grant  of  the  islands  of  IVDgnan  ;  and  in  the  following  year,  1680,  he 
received  another  grant,  of  the  great  island  of  Anticosti  in  the  lower 
St.  Lawrence.  In  1681  he  was  established  here,  with  his  wife  and 
six  servants.    He  was  engaged  in  fisheries;   and,  being  a  skilful 


1674.]  MARQUETTE'S  MISSION.  77 

Marquette  spent  the  winter  and  the  following 
summer  at  the  mission  of  Green  Bay,  still  suffering 
from  his  malady.  In  the  autumn,  however,  it  abated ; 
and  he  was  permitted  by  his  Superior  to  attempt  the 
execution  of  a  plan  to  which  he  was  devotedly 
attached,  —  the  founding,  at  the  principal  town  of 
the  Illinois,  of  a  mission  to  be  called  the  "  Immaculate 
Conception,"  a  name  which  he  had  already  given  to 
the  river  Mississippi.  He  set  out  on  this  errand  on 
the  twenty-fifth  of  October,  accompanied  by  two 
men,  named  Pierre  and  Jacques,  one  of  whom  had 
been  with  him  on  his  great  journey  of  discovery.  A 
band  of  Pottawattamies  and  another  band  of  Illinois 
also  joined  him.  The  united  parties  —  ten  canoes  in 
all  —  followed  the  east  shore  of  Green  Bay  as  far  as 
the  inlet  then  called  "Sturgeon  Cove,"  from  the  head 
of  which  they  crossed  by  a  difficult  portage  through 
the  forest  to  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  November 
had  come.  The  bright  hues  of  the  autumn  foliage 
were  changed  to  rusty  brown.  The  shore  was  deso- 
late,  and  the   lake  was   stormy.     They  were  more 

navigator  and  surveyor,  he  made  about  this  time  a  chart  of  the  St. 
Lawrence.  In  1690,  Sir  William  Phips,  on  his  way  with  an  English 
fleet  to  attack  Quebec,  made  a  descent  on  Joliet's  establishment, 
burnt  his  buildings,  and  took  prisoners  his  wife  and  his  mother-in- 
law.  In  1694  Joliet  explored  the  coasts  of  Labrador,  under  the 
auspices  of  a  company  formed  for  the  whale  and  seal  fishery.  On 
his  return,  Frontenac  made  him  royal  pilot  for  the  St.  Lawrence ; 
and  at  about  the  same  time  he  received  the  appointment  of  hydrog- 
rapher  at  Quebec.  He  died,  apparently  poor,  in  1699  or  1700,  and 
was  buried  on  one  of  the  islands  of  Mignan.  The  discovery  of  the 
above  facts  is  due  in  great  part  to  the  researches  of  Margry. 


78      THE  DISCOVERY  OF   THE  MISSISSIPPI.     [1674. 

than  a  month  in  coasting  its  western  border,  when  at 
length  they  reached  the  river  Chicago,  entered  it,  and 
ascended  about  two  leagues.  Marquette's  disease 
had  lately  returned,  and  hemorrhage  now  ensued. 
He  told  his  two  companions  that  this  journey  would 
be  his  last.  In  the  condition  in  which  he  was,  it  was 
impossible  to  go  farther.  The  two  men  built  a  log 
hut  by  the  river,  and  here  they  prepared  to  spend  the 
winter;  while  Marquette,  feeble  as  he  was,  began 
the  spiritual  exercises  of  Saint  Ignatius,  and  con- 
fessed his  two  companions  twice  a  week. 

Meadow,  marsh,  and  forest  were  sheeted  with 
snow,  but  game  was  abundant.  Pierre  and  Jacques 
killed  buffalo  and  deer,  and  shot  wild  turkeys  close 
to  their  hut.  There  was  an  encampment  of  Illinois 
within  two  days'  journey;  and  other  Indians,  passing 
by  this  well-known  thoroughfare,  occasionally  visited 
them,  treating  the  exiles  kindly,  and  sometimes 
bringing  them  game  and  Indian  corn.  Eighteen 
leagues  distant  was  the  camp  of  two  adventurous 
French  traders,  —  one  of  them,  a  noted  coureur  de 
bois,  nicknamed  La  Taupine ;  ^  and  the  other,  a  self- 
styled  surgeon.  They  also  visited  Marquette,  and 
befriended  him  to  the  best  of  their  power. 

Urged  by  a  burning  desire  to  lay,  before  he  died, 
the  foundation  of  his  new  mission  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  Marquette  begged  his  two  followers  to 

1  Pierre  Moreau,  alias  La  Taupine,  was  afterwards  bitterly  com- 
plained of  by  the  Intendant  Duchesneau,  for  acting  as  the  gov- 
ernor's agent  in  illicit  trade  with  the  Indians. 


1675.]  THE  MISSION  AT   KASKASKIA.  79 

join  hini  in  a  novena,  or  nine  days'  devotion  to  the 
Virgin.  In  consequence  of  this,  as  he  believed,  his 
disease  relented;  he  began  to  regain  strength,  and  in 
March  was  able  to  resume  the  journey.  On  the 
thirtieth  of  the  month,  they  left  their  hut,  which  had 
been  inundated  by  a  sudden  rise  of  the  river,  and 
carried  their  canoe  through  mud  and  water  over  the 
portage  which  led  to  the  Des  Plaines.  Marquette 
knew  the  way,  for  he  had  passed  by  this  route  on  his 
return  from  the  Mississippi.  Amid  the  rains  of 
opening  spring,  they  floated  down  the  swollen  cur- 
rent of  the  Des  Plaines,  by  naked  woods  and  spongy, 
saturated  prairies,  till  they  reached  its  junction  with 
the  main  stream  of  the  Illinois,  which  they  descended 
to  their  destination,  the  Indian  town  which  Marquette 
calls  "Kaskaskia."  Here,  as  we  are  told,  he  was 
received  "like  an  angel  from  Heaven."  He  passed 
from  wigwam  to  wigwam,  telling  the  listening  crowds 
of  God  and  the  Virgin,  Paradise  and  Hell,  angels 
and  demons;  and,  when  he  thought  their  minds 
prepared,  he  summoned  them  all  to  a  grand  council. 

It  took  place  near  the  town,  on  the  great  meadow 
which  lies  between  the  river  and  the  modern  village 
of  Utica.  Here  five  hundred  chiefs  and  old  men 
were  seated  in  a  ring;  behind  stood  fifteen  hundred 
youths  and  warriors,  and  behind  these  again  all  the 
women  and  children  of  the  village.  Marquette, 
standing  in  the  midst,  displayed  four  large  pictures 
of  the  Virgin ;  harangued  the  assembly  on  the  myste- 
ries of  the  Faith,   and  exhorted  them  to  adopt   it. 


80       THE   DISCOVERY  OF  THE  mSSISSIPPI.    [1675. 

The  temper  of  his  auditory  met  his  utmost  wishes. 
They  begged  him  to  stay  among  them  and  continue 
his  instructions ;  but  his  life  was  fast  ebbing  away, 
and  it  behooved  him  to  depart. 

A  few  days  after  Easter  he  left  the  village,  escorted 
by  a  crowd  of  Indians,  who  followed  him  as  far  as 
Lake   Michigan.     Here  he  embarked  with  his  two 
companions.    Their  destination  was  Michilimackinac, 
and  their  course  lay  along  the  eastern  borders  of  the 
lake.     As,    in   the   freshness   of    advancing    spring, 
Pierre   and   Jacques   urged   their  canoe   along  that 
lonely  and  savage  shore,  the  priest  lay  with  dimmed 
sight  and  prostrated  strength,  communing  with  the 
Virgin  and  the  angels.     On  the  nineteenth  of  May, 
he  felt  that  his  hour  was  near;  and,  as  they  passed 
the  mouth  of  a  small  river,  he  requested  his  com- 
panions to  land.     They  complied,   built  a  shed   of 
bark  on  a  rising  groimd  near  the  bank,  and  carried 
thither  the  dying  Jesuit.     With  perfect  cheerfulness 
and  composure,   he  gave  directions   for  his   burial, 
asked  their  forgiveness  for  the  trouble  he  had  caused 
them,  administered  to  them  the  sacrament  of  peni- 
tence, and  thanked  God  that  he  was  permitted  to  die 
in  the  wilderness,  a  missionary  of  the  Faith  and  a 
member  of  the  Jesuit  brotherhood.     At  night,  seeing 
that  they  were  fatigued,  he  told  them  to  take  rest, 
saying  that  he  would  call  them  when  he  felt  his  time 
approacliing.     Two  or  three  hours  after,  they  heard 
a  feeble  voice,  and,  hastening  to  his  side,  found  him 
at  the  point  of  death.     He  expired  calmly,  murmur- 


1676-77.]  BURIAL  OF  MARQUETTE.  81 

ing  the  names  of  Jesus  and  Mary,  with  his  eyes  fixed 
on  the  crucifix  which  one  of  his  followers  held  before 
him.  They  dug  a  grave  beside  the  hut,  and  here 
they  buried  him  according  to  the  directions  which  he 
had  given  them;  then,  re-embarking,  they  made  their 
way  to  Michilimackinac,  to  bear  the  tidings  to  the 
priests  at  the  mission  of  St.  Ignace.^ 

In  the  winter  of  1676,  a  party  of  Kiskakon  Ottawas 
were  hunting  on  Lake  Michigan;  and  when,  in  the 
folloAving  spring,  they  prepared  to  return  home,  they 
bethought  them,  in  accordance  with  an  Indian  cus- 
tom, of  taking  with  them  the  bones  of  Marquette, 
who  had  been  their  instructor  at  the  mission  of  St. 
Esprit.  They  repaired  to  the  spot,  found  the  grave, 
opened  it,  washed  and  dried  the  bones  and  placed 
them  carefully  in  a  box  of  birch-bark.  Then,  in  a 
procession  of  thirty  canoes,  they  bore  it,  singing  their 
funeral  songs,  to  St.  Ignace  of  Michilimackinac.  As 
they  approached,  priests,  Indians,  and  traders  all 
thronged  to  the  shore.  The  relics  of  Marquette  were 
received  with  solemn  ceremony,  and  buried  beneath 
the  floor  of  the  little  chapel  of  the  mission. ^ 

^  The  contemporary  Relation  tells  us  that  a  miracle  took  place 
at  the  burial  of  Marquette.  One  of  the  two  Frenchmen,  overcome 
with  grief  and  colic,  bethought  him  of  applying  a  little  earth  from 
the  grave  to  the  seat  of  pain.  This  at  once  restored  him  to  health 
and  cheerfulness. 

2  For  Marquette's  death,  see  the  contemporary  Relation,  pub- 
lished by  Shea,  Lenox,  and  Martin,  with  the  accompanying  Lettre 
et  Journal.  The  river  where  he  died  is  a  small  stream  in  the  west 
of  Michigan,  some  distance  south  of  the  promontory  called  the 
"  Sleeping  Bear."    It  long  bore  his  name,  which  is  now  borne  by  a 

VOL.   I. — 6 


82       THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.    [1677. 

larger  neighboring  stream.  Charlevoix's  account  of  Marquette's 
death  is  derived  from  tradition,  and  is  not  supported  by  the  con- 
temporary narrative.  In  1877,  human  bones,  with  fragments  of 
birch-bark,  were  found  buried  on  the  supposed  site  of  the  Jesuit 
chapel  at  Point  St.  Ignace. 

In  1847,  the  missionary  of  the  Algonquins  at  the  Lake  of  Two 
Mountains,  above  Montreal,  wrote  down  a  tradition  of  the  death  of 
Marquette,  from  the  lips  of  an  old  Indian  woman,  born  in  1777,  at 
Michilimackinac.  Her  ancestress  had  been  baptized  by  the  sub- 
ject of  the  story.  The  tradition  has  a  resemblance  to  that  related 
as  fact  by  Cliarlevoix.  The  old  squaw  said  that  the  Jesuit  was 
returning,  very  ill,  to  Michilimackinac,  when  a  storm  forced  him 
and  Ills  two  men  to  land  near  a  little  river.  Here  he  told  them  that 
he  should  die,  and  directed  them  to  ring  a  bell  over  his  grave  and 
plant  a  cross.  They  all  remained  four  days  at  the  spot ;  and,  though 
witliout  food,  the  men  felt  no  hunger.  On  the  night  of  the  fourth 
day  he  died,  and  the  men  buried  him  as  he  had  directed.  On  wak- 
ing in  the  morning,  they  saw  a  sack  of  Indian  corn,  a  quantity  of 
bacon,  and  some  biscuit,  miraculously  sent  to  them,  in  accordance 
with  the  promise  of  Marquette,  who  had  told  them  that  they  should 
have  food  enough  for  their  journey  to  Michilimackinac.  At  the 
same  instant,  the  stream  began  to  rise,  and  in  a  few  moments  encir- 
cled the  grave  of  the  Jesuit,  which  formed,  thenceforth,  an  islet  in 
the  waters.  The  tradition  adds,  that  an  Indian  battle  afterwards 
took  place  on  the  banks  of  this  stream,  between  Christians  and 
infidels ;  and  that  the  former  gained  the  victory,  in  consequence  of 
invoking  the  name  of  Marquette.  This  story  bears  the  attestation 
of  the  priest  of  the  Two  Mountains  that  it  is  a  literal  translation  of 
the  tradition,  as  recounted  by  the  old  woman. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  Illinois  country  was  visited  by  two 
priests,  some  time  before  the  visit  of  Marquette.  This  assertion 
was  first  made  by  M.  Noiseux,  late  Grand  Vicar  of  Quebec,  who 
gives  no  authority  for  it.  Not  the  slightest  indication  of  any  such 
visit  appears  in  any  contemporary  document  or  map,  thus  far  dis- 
covered. The  contemporary  writers,  down  to  the  time  of  Marquette 
and  La  Salle,  all  speak  of  the  Illinois  as  an  unknown  country.  The 
entire  groundlessness  of  Noiseux's  assertion  is  shown  by  Shea,  in  a 
paper  in  the  "  Weekly  Herald,"  of  New  York,  April  21, 1855. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

1673-1678. 

LA  SALLE  AND  FRONTENAC. 

Objects  of  La  Salle.  —  Feontenac  favors  him.  —  Projects  of 
Frontenac.  —  Cataraqui.  —  Frontenac  on  Lake  Ontario. — 
Fort  Frontenac.  —  La  Salle  and  F6nelon.  —  Success  of  La 
Salle:  his  Enemies. 

We  turn  from  the  humble  Marquette,  thanking 
God  with  his  last  breath  that  he  died  for  his  Order 
and  his  Faith ;  and  by  our  side  stands  the  masculine 
form  of  Cavelier  de  la  Salle.  Prodigious  was  the 
contrast  between  the  two  discoverers:  the  one,  with 
clasped  hands  and  upturned  eyes,  seems  a  figure 
evoked  from  some  dim  legend  of  mediaeval  saintship ; 
the  other,  with  feet  firm  planted  on  the  hard  earth, 
breathes  the  self-relying  energies  of  modern  practical 
enterprise.  Nevertheless,  La  Salle's  enemies  called 
him  a  visionary.  His  projects  perplexed  and  startled 
them.  At  first,  they  ridiculed  him;  and  then,  as 
step  by  step  he  advanced  towards  his  purpose,  they 
denounced  and  maligned  him.  What  was  this  pur- 
pose ?  It  was  not  of  sudden  growth,  but  developed 
as  years  went  on.  La  Salle  at  La  Chine  dreamed 
of  a  western  passage  to  China,  and   nursed  vague 


84  LA  SALLE  AND  FRONTENAC.       [1673-78. 

scliemes  of  western  discovery.  Then,  when  his 
earlier  journeyings  revealed  to  him  the  valley  of  the 
Ohio  and  the  fertile  plains  of  Illinois,  his  imagination 
took  wing  over  the  boundless  prairies  and  forests 
drained  by  the  great  river  of  the  West.  His  ambi- 
tion had  found  its  field.  He  would  leave  barren  and 
frozen  Canada  behind,  and  lead  France  and  civiliza- 
tion into  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Neither  the 
English  nor  the  Jesuits  should  conquer  that  rich 
domain :  the  one  must  rest  content  with  the  country 
east  of  the  AUeghanies,  and  the  other  with  the 
forests,  savages,  and  beaver-skins  of  the  northern 
lakes.  It  was  for  him  to  call  into  light  the  latent 
riches  of  the  great  West.  But  the  way  to  his  land 
of  promise  was  rough  and  long:  it  lay  through 
Canada,  filled  with  hostile  traders  and  hostile  priests, 
and  barred  by  ice  for  half  the  year.  The  difficulty 
was  soon  solved.  La  Salle  became  convinced  that 
the  Mississippi  flowed,  not  into  the  Pacific  or  the 
Gulf  of  California,  but  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  By 
a  fortified  post  at  its  mouth,  he  could  guard  it  against 
both  English  and  Spaniards,  and  secure  for  the  trade 
of  the  interior  an  access  and  an  outlet  under  his  own 
control,  and  open  at  every  season.  Of  this  trade, 
the  hides  of  the  buffalo  would  at  first  form  the  staple, 
and  along  with  furs  would  reward  the  enterprise  till 
other  resources  should  be  developed. 

Such  were  the  vast  projects  that  unfolded  them- 
selves in  the  mind  of  La  Salle.  Canada  must  needs 
be,  at  the  outset,  his  base  of  action,  and  without  the 


1673.]  PROJECTS  OP  PRONTENAC.  85 

support  of  its  authorities  he  could  do  nothing.  This 
support  he  found.  From  the  moment  when  Count 
Frontenac  assumed  the  government  of  the  colony,  he 
seems  to  have  looked  with  favor  on  the  young 
discoverer.  There  were  points  of  likeness  between 
the  two  men.  Both  were  ardent,  bold,  and  enterpris- 
ing. The  irascible  and  fiery  pride  of  the  noble  found 
its  match  in  the  reserved  and  seemingly  cold  pride  of 
the  ambitious  burgher.  Each  could  comprehend  the 
other;  and  they  had,  moreover,  strong  prejudices 
and  dislikes  in  common.  An  understanding,  not  to 
say  an  alliance,  soon  grew  up  between  them. 

Frontenac  had  come  to  Canada  a  ruined  man.  He 
was  ostentatious,  lavish,  and  in  no  way  disposed  to 
let  slip  an  opportunity  of  mending  his  fortune.  He 
presently  thought  that  he  had  found  a  plan  by  which 
he  could  serve  both  the  colony  and  himself.  His 
predecessor,  Courcelle,  had  urged  upon  the  King 
the  expediency  of  building  a  fort  on  Lake  Ontario,  in 
order  to  hold  the  Iroquois  in  check  and  intercept  the 
trade  which  the  tribes  of  the  Upper  Lakes  had  begun 
to  carry  on  with  the  Dutch  and  English  of  New 
York.  Thus  a  stream  of  wealth  would  be  turned 
into  Canada,  which  would  otherwise  enrich  her  ene- 
mies. Here,  to  all  appearance,  was  a  great  public 
good,  and  from  the  military  point  of  view  it  was  so 
in  fact ;  but  it  was  clear  that  the  trade  thus  secured 
might  be  made  to  profit,  not  the  colony  at  large,  but 
those  alone  who  had  control  of  the  fort,  which  would 
then  become  the  instrument  of  a  monopoly.     This 


86  LA   SALLE   AND   FRONTENAC.  [1673. 

the  governor  understood;  and,  without  doubt,  he 
meant  that  the  projected  establishment  should  pay 
him  tribute.  How  far  he  and  La  Salle  were  acting 
in  concurrence  at  this  time,  it  is  not  easy  to  say ;  but 
Frontenac  often  took  counsel  of  the  explorer,  who,  on 
his  part,  saw  in  the  design  a  possible  first  step  towards 
the  accomplishment  of  his  own  far-reaching  schemes. 
Such  of  the  Canadian  merchants  as  were  not  in  the 
governor's  confidence  looked  on  his  plan  with  extreme 
distrust.  Frontenac,  therefore,  thought  it  expedient 
"to  make  use,"  as  he  expresses  it,  "of  address."  He 
gave  out  merely  that  he  intended  to  make  a  tour 
through  the  upper  parts  of  the  colony  with  an  armed 
force,  in  order  to  inspire  the  Indians  with  respect, 
and  secure  a  solid  peace.  He  had  neither  troops, 
money,  munitions,  nor  means  of  transportation;  yet 
there  was  no  time  to  lose,  for,  should  he  delay  the 
execution  of  his  plan,  it  might  be  countermanded  by 
the  King.  His  only  resource,  therefore,  was  in  a 
prompt  and  hardy  exertion  of  the  royal  authority; 
and  he  issued  an  order  requiring  the  inhabitants  of 
Quebec,  Montreal,  Three  Rivers,  and  other  settle- 
ments to  furnish  him,  at  their  own  cost,  as  soon  as 
the  spring  sowing  should  be  over,  with  a  certain 
number  of  armed  men,  besides  the  requisite  canoes. 
At  the  same  time,  he  invited  the  officers  settled  in 
the  country  to  join  the  expedition,  —  an  invitation 
which,  anxious  as  they  were  to  gain  his  good  graces, 
few  of  them  cared  to  decline.  Regardless  of  mur- 
murs  and    discontent,    he    pushed    his    preparation 


1673.]  EXPEDITION  OF  FRONTENAC.  87 

vigorously,  and  on  the  third  of  June  left  Quebec 
with  his  guard,  his  staff,  a  part  of  the  garrison  of 
the  Castle  of  St.  Louis,  and  a  number  of  volunteers. 
He  had  already  sent  to  La  Salle,  who  was  then  at 
Montreal,  directing  him  to  repair  to  Onondaga,  the 
political  centre  of  the  Iroquois,  and  invite  their 
sachems  to  meet  the  governor  in  council  at  the  Bay 
of  Quintd  on  the  north  of  Lake  Ontario.  La  Salle 
had  set  out  on  his  mission,  but  first  sent  Frontenac  a 
map,  which  convinced  him  that  the  best  site  for  his 
proposed  fort  was  the  mouth  of  the  Cataraqui,  where 
Kingston  now  stands.  Another  messenger  was  ac- 
cordingly despatched,  to  change  the  rendezvous  to 
this  point. 

Meanwhile,  the  governor  proceeded  at  his  leisure 
towards  Montreal,  stopping  by  the  way  to  visit  the 
officers  settled  along  the  bank,  who,  eager  to  pay 
their  homage  to  the  newly  risen  sun,  received  him 
with  a  hospitality  which  under  the  roof  of  a  log  hut 
was  sometimes  graced  by  the  polished  courtesies  of 
the  salon  and  the  boudoir.  Reaching  Montreal, 
which  he  had  never  before  seen,  he  gazed,  we  may 
suppose,  with  some  interest  at  the  long  row  of 
humble  dwellings  which  lined  the  bank,  the  massive 
buildings  of  the  Seminary,  and  the  spire  of  the 
church  predominant  over  all.  It  was  a  rude  scene, 
but  the  greeting  that  awaited  him  savored  nothing  of 
the  rough  simplicity  of  the  wilderness.  Perrot,  the 
local  governor,  was  on  the  shore  with  his  soldiers 
and  the  inhabitants,  drawn  up  under  arms  and  firing 


88  LA  SALLE   AND   FRONTENAC.  [1673. 

a  salute  to  welcome  the  representative  of  the  King. 
Frontenac  was  compelled  to  listen  to  a  long  harangue 
from  the  judge  of  the  place,  followed  by  another  from 
the  syndic.  Then  there  was  a  solemn  procession  to 
the  church,  where  he  was  forced  to  undergo  a  third 
effort  of  oratory  from  one  of  the  priests.  Te  Dcum 
followed,  in  thanks  for  his  arrival ;  and  then  he  took 
refuge  in  the  fort.  Here  he  remained  thirteen  days, 
busied  with  his  preparations,  organizing  the  militia, 
soothing  their  mutual  jealousies,  and  settling  knotty 
questions  of  rank  and  precedence.  During  this  time, 
every  means,  as  he  declares,  was  used  to  prevent  him 
from  proceeding;  and  among  other  devices  a  rumor 
was  set  on  foot  that  a  Dutch  fleet,  having  just  cap- 
tured Boston,  was  on  its  way  to  attack  Quebec.^ 

Having  sent  men,  canoes,  and  baggage,  by  land, 
to  La  Salle's  old  settlement  of  La  Chine,  Frontenac 
himself  followed  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  June. 
Including  Indians  from  the  missions,  he  now  had 
with  him  about  four  hundred  men  and  a  hundred 
and  twenty  canoes,  besides  two  large  flat-boats,  which 
he  caused  to  be  j)ainted  in  red  and  blue,  with  strange 
devices,  intended  to  dazzle  the  Iroquois  by  a  display 
of  unwonted  splendor.  Now  their  hard  task  began. 
Shouldering  canoes  through  the  forest,  dragging  the 
flat-boats  along  the  shore,  working  like  beavers,  — 

1  Lettre  de  Frontenac  a  Colbert,  13  Nov.,  1673.  This  rumor,  it 
appears,  originated  with  the  Jesuit  Dablon.  Journal  du  Voyage  du 
Comte  de  Frontenac  au  lac  Ontario.  The  Jesuits  were  greatly  opposed 
to  the  establishment  of  forts  and  trading-posts  in  the  upper  country, 
for  reasons  that  will  appear  hereafter. 


1673.]  FRONTENAC'S  JOURNEY.  89 

sometimes  in  water  to  the  knees,  sometimes  to  the 
armpits,  their  feet  cut  by  the  sharp  stones,  and  they 
themselves  well-nigh  swept  down  by  the  furious 
current,  —  they  fought  their  way  upward  against  the 
chain  of  mighty  rapids  that  break  the  navigation  of 
the  St.  Lawrence.  The  Indians  were  of  the  greatest 
service.  Frontenac,  like  La  Salle,  showed  from  the 
first  a  special  faculty  of  managing  them;  for  his 
keen,  incisive  spirit  was  exactly  to  their  liking,  and 
they  worked  for  him  as  they  would  have  worked  for 
no  man  else.  As  they  approached  the  Long  Saut, 
rain  fell  in  torrents;  and  the  governor,  without  his 
cloak,  and  drenched  to  the  skin,  directed  in  person 
the  amphibious  toil  of  his  followers.  Once,  it  is 
said,  he  lay  awake  all  night,  in  his  anxiety  lest  the 
biscuit  should  be  wet,  wliich  would  have  ruined  the 
expedition.  No  such  mischance  took  place,  and  at 
length  the  last  rapid  was  passed,  and  smooth  water 
awaited  them  to  their  journey's  end.  Soon  they 
reached  the  Thousand  Islands,  and  their  light  flotilla 
glided  in  long  file  among  those  watery  labyrinths,  by 
rocky  islets,  where  some  lonely  pine  towered  like  a 
mast  against  the  sky;  by  sun-scorched  crags,  where 
the  brown  lichens  crisped  in  the  parching  glare;  by 
deep  dells,  shady  and  cool,  rich  in  rank  ferns,  and 
spongy,  dark-green  mosses ;  by  still  coves,  where  the 
water-lilies  lay  like  snow-flakes  on  their  broad,  flat 
leaves,  —  till  at  length  they  neared  their  goal,  and 
the  glistening  bosom  of  Lake  Ontario  opened  on  their 
sight. 


90  LA  SALLE  AND  FRONTENAC.  [1673. 

Frontenac,  to  impose  respect  on  the  Iroquois,  now 
set  his  canoes  in  order  of  battle.  Four  divisions 
formed  the  first  line,  then  came  the  two  flat-boats; 
he  himself,  with  his  guards,  his  staff,  and  the  gentle- 
men volunteers,  followed,  with  the  canoes  of  Three 
Rivers  on  his  right,  and  those  of  the  Indians  on  his 
left,  while  two  remaining  divisions  formed  a  rear 
line.  Thus,  with  measured  paddles,  they  advanced 
over  the  still  lake,  till  they  saw  a  canoe  approaching 
to  meet  them.  It  bore  several  Iroquois  chiefs,  who 
told  them  that  the  dignitaries  of  their  nation  awaited 
them  at  Cataraqui,  and  offered  to  guide  them  to  the 
spot.  They  entered  the  wide  mouth  of  the  river, 
and  passed  along  the  shore,  now  covered  by  the  quiet 
little  city  of  Kingston,  till  they  reached  the  point 
at  present  occupied  by  the  barracks,  at  the  western 
end  of  Cataraqui  bridge.  Here  they  stranded  their 
canoes  and  disembarked.  Baggage  was  landed,  fires 
lighted,  tents  pitched,  and  guards  set.  Close  at 
hand,  under  the  lee  of  the  forest,  were  the  camping 
sheds  of  the  Iroquois,  who  had  come  to  the  rendez- 
vous in  considerable  numbers. 

At  daybreak  of  the  next  morning,  the  thirteenth  of 
July,  the  drums  beat,  and  the  whole  party  were 
drawn  up  under  arms.  A  double  line  of  men  extended 
from  the  front  of  Frontenac 's  tent  to  the  Indian 
camp ;  and,  through  the  lane  thus  formed,  the  savage 
deputies,  sixty  in  number,  advanced  to  the  place  of 
council.  They  could  not  hide  their  admiration  at  the 
martial  array  of  the  French,  many  of  whom  were  old 


1673.]  FRONTENAC   AT  CATARAQUI.  91 

soldiers  of  the  regiment  of  Carignan ;  and  when  they 
reached  the  tent  they  ejaculated  their  astonishment 
at  the  Tiniforms  of  the  governor's  guard  who  sur- 
rounded it.  Here  the  ground  had  been  carpeted 
with  the  sails  of  the  flat-boats,  on  which  the  deputies 
squatted  themselves  in  a  ring  and  smoked  their  pipes 
for  a  time  with  their  usual  air  of  deliberate  gravity ; 
while  Frontenac,  who  sat  surrounded  by  his  officers, 
had  full  leisure  to  contemplate  the  formidable  adver- 
saries whose  mettle  was  hereafter  to  put  his  own  to 
so  severe  a  test.  A  chief  named  Garakonti^,  a  noted 
friend  of  the  French,  at  length  opened  the  council, 
in  behalf  of  all  the  five  Iroquois  nations,  with 
expressions  of  great  respect  and  deference  towards 
"Onontio;"  that  is  to  say,  the  governor  of  Canada. 
Whereupon  Frontenac,  whose  native  arrogance  where 
Indians  were  concerned  always  took  a  form  which 
imposed  respect  without  exciting  anger,  replied  in 
the  following  strain :  — 

"Children!  Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondagas,  Cayu- 
gas,  and  Senecas.  I  am  glad  to  see  you  here,  where 
I  have  had  a  fire  lighted  for  you  to  smoke  by,  and 
for  me  to  talk  to  you.  You  have  done  well,  my 
children,  to  obey  the  command  of  your  Father.  Take 
courage:  you  will  hear  his  word,  which  is  full  of 
peace  and  tenderness.  For  do  not  think  that  I  have 
come  for  war.  My  mind  is  full  of  peace,  and  she 
walks  by  my  side.  Courage,  then,  children,  and 
take  rest." 

With  that,  he  gave  them  six  fathoms  of  tobacco, 


92  LA  SALLE  AND  FRONTENAC.  [1673. 

reiterated  his  assurances  of  friendship,  promised  that 
he  would  be  a  kind  father  so  long  as  they  should  be 
obedient  children,  regretted  that  he  was  forced  to 
speak  through  an  interpreter,  and  ended  with  a  gift  of 
guns  to  the  men,  and  prunes  and  raisins  to  their  wives 
and  children.  Here  closed  this  preliminary  meeting, 
the  great  council  being  postponed  to  another  day. 

During  the  meeting,  Raudin,  Frontenac's  engineer, 
was  tracing  out  the  lines  of  a  fort,  after  a  predeter- 
mined plan;  and  the  whole  party,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  their  officers,  now  set  themselves  to  construct 
it.  Some  cut  down  trees,  some  dug  the  trenches, 
some  hewed  the  palisades ;  and  with  such  order  and 
alacrity  was  the  work  urged  on,  that  the  Indians 
were  lost  in  astonishment.  Meanwhile,  Frontenac 
spared  no  pains  to  make  friends  of  the  chiefs,  some 
of  whom  he  had  constantly  at  his  table.  He  fondled 
the  Iroquois  children,  and  gave  them  bread  and 
sweetmeats,  and  in  the  evening  feasted  the  squaws 
to  make  them  dance.  The  Indians  were  delighted 
with  these  attentions,  and  conceived  a  high  opinion 
of  the  new  Onontio. 

On  the  seventeenth,  when  the  construction  of  the 
fort  was  well  advanced,  Frontenac  called  the  chiefs 
to  a  grand  council,  which  was  held  with  all  possible 
state  and  ceremony.  His  dealing  with  the  Indians 
on  this  and  other  occasions  was  truly  admirable. 
Unacquainted  as  he  was  with  them,  he  seems  to  have 
had  an  instinctive  perception  of  the  treatment  they 
required.     His  predecessors  had  never  ventured  to 


1673.]        FRONTENAC   AND   THE  INDIANS.  93 

address  the  Iroquois  as  "Children,"  but  had  always 
styled  them  "Brothers;"  and  yet  the  assumption  of 
paternal  authority  on  the  part  of  Frontenac  was  not 
only  taken  in  good  part,  but  was  received  with  appar- 
ent gratitude.  The  martial  nature  of  the  man,  his 
clear,  decisive  speech,  and  his  frank  and  downright 
manner,  backed  as  they  were  by  a  display  of  force 
which  in  their  eyes  was  formidable,  struck  them  with 
admiration,  and  gave  tenfold  effect  to  his  words  of 
kindness.  They  thanked  him  for  that  which  from 
another  they  would  not  have  endured. 

Frontenac  began  by  again  expressing  his  satisfac- 
tion that  they  had  obeyed  the  commands  of  their 
Father,  and  come  to  Cataraqui  to  hear  what  he  had 
to  say.  Then  he  exhorted  them  to  embrace  Chris- 
tianity; and  on  this  theme  he  dwelt  at  length,  in 
words  excellently  adapted  to  produce  the  desired 
effect,  —  words  which  it  would  be  most  superfluous 
to  tax  as  insincere,  though  doubtless  they  lost  noth- 
ing in  emphasis  because  in  this  instance  conscience 
and  policy  aimed  alike.  Then,  changing  his  tone, 
he  pointed  to  his  officers,  his  guard,  the  long  files  of 
the  militia,  and  the  two  flat-boats,  mounted  with 
cannon,  which  lay  in  the  river  near  by.  "If,"  he 
said,  "  your  Father  can  come  so  far,  with  so  great  a 
force,  through  such  dangerous  rapids,  merely  to 
make  you  a  visit  of  pleasure  and  friendship,  what 
would  he  do,  if  you  should  awaken  his  anger,  and 
make  it  necessary  for  him  to  punish  his  disobedient 
children?    He   is    the    arbiter    of    peace   and   war. 


9-1  LA   SALLE  AND  FRONTENAC.  [1673. 

Beware  how  you  offend  him !  "  And  he  warned  them 
not  to  molest  the  Indian  allies  of  the  French,  telling 
them,  sharply,  that  he  would  chastise  them  for  the 
least  infraction  of  the  peace. 

From  threats  he  passed  to  blandishments,  and 
urged  them  to  confide  in  his  paternal  kindness,  say- 
ing that,  in  proof  of  his  affection,  he  was  building  a 
storehouse  at  Cataraqui,  where  they  could  be  supplied 
with  all  the  goods  they  needed,  without  the  necessity 
of  a  long  and  dangerous  journey.  He  warned  them 
against  listening  to  bad  men,  who  might  seek  to 
delude  them  by  misrepresentations  and  falsehoods; 
and  he  urged  them  to  give  heed  to  none  but  "  men  of 
character,  like  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle."  He  expressed 
a  hope  that  they  would  suffer  their  children  to  learn 
French  from  the  missionaries,  in  order  that  they  and 
his  nephews  —  meaning  the  French  colonists  —  might 
become  one  people ;  and  he  concluded  by  requesting 
them  to  give  him  a  number  of  their  children  to  be 
educated  in  the  French  manner,  at  Quebec. 

This  speech,  every  clause  of  which  was  reinforced 
by  abundant  presents,  was  extremely  well  received ; 
though  one  speaker  reminded  him  that  he  had  for- 
gotten one  important  point,  inasmuch  as  he  had  not 
told  them  at  what  prices  they  could  obtain  goods  at 
Cataraqui.  Frontenac  evaded  a  precise  answer,  but 
promised  them  that  the  goods  should  be  as  cheap  as 
possible,  in  view  of  the  great  difficulty  of  transpor- 
tation. As  to  the  request  concerning  their  children, 
they  said  that  they  could  not  accede  to  it  till  they 


1673.]  TREATY  WITH   THE  INDIANS.  95 

had  talked  the  matter  over  in  their  villages ;  but  it  is 
a  striking  proof  of  the  influence  which  Frontenac  had 
gained  over  them,  tliat,  in  the  following  year,  they 
actually  sent  several  of  their  children  to  Quebec  to 
be  educated,  —  the  girls  among  the  Ursulines,  and 
the  boys  in  the  household  of  the  governor. 

Three  days  after  the  council,  the  Iroquois  set  out 
on  their  return ;  and  as  the  palisades  of  the  fort  were 
now  finished,  and  the  barracks  nearly  so,  Frontenac 
began  to  send  his  party  homeward  by  detachments. 
He  himself  was  detained  for  a  time  by  the  arrival  of 
another  band  of  Iroquois,  from  the  villages  on  the 
north  side  of  Lake  Ontario.  He  repeated  to  them 
the  speech  he  had  made  to  the  others ;  and,  this  final 
meeting  over,  he  embarked  with  his  guard,  leaving  a 
sufficient  number  to  hold  the  fort,  which  was  to  be 
provisioned  for  a  year  by  means  of  a  convoy  then  on 
its  way  up  the  river.  Passing  the  rapids  safely,  he 
reached  Montreal  on  the  first  of  August. 

His  enterprise  had  been  a  complete  success.  He 
had  gained  every  point,  and,  in  spite  of  the  dangerous 
navigation,  had  not  lost  a  single  canoe.  Thanks  to 
the  enforced  and  gratuitous  assistance  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, the  whole  had  cost  the  King  only  about  ten 
thousand  francs,  which  Frontenac  had  advanced  on 
his  own  credit.  Though  in  a  commercial  point  of 
view  the  new  establishment  was  of  very  questionable 
benefit  to  the  colony  at  large,  the  governor  had, 
nevertheless,  conferred  an  inestimable  blessing  on  all 
Canada  by  the  assurance  he  had  gained  of  a  long 


96  LA  SALLE   AND  FRONTENAC.  [1673. 

respite  from  the  fearful  scourge  of  Iroquois  hostility. 
"Assuredly,"  he  writes,  "I  may  boast  of  having 
impressed  them  at  once  with  respect,  fear,  and  good- 
will."^ He  adds  that  the  fort  at  Cataraqui,  with 
the  aid  of  a  vessel  now  building,  will  command  Lake 
Ontario,  keep  the  peace  with  the  Iroquois,  and  cut 
off  the  trade  with  the  English ;  and  he  proceeds  to 
say  that  by  another  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara, 
and  another  vessel  on  Lake  Erie,  we,  the  French, 
can  command  all  the  Upper  Lakes.  This  plan  was 
an  essential  link  in  the  schemes  of  La  Salle ;  and  we 
shall  soon  find  him  employed  in  executing  it. 

A  curious  incident  occurred  soon  after  the  build- 
ing of  the  fort  on  Lake  Ontario.  Frontenac,  on  his 
way  back,  quarrelled  with  Perrot,  the  governor  of 
Montreal,  whom,  in  view  of  his  speculations  in  the 
fur-trade,  he  seems  to  have  regarded  as  a  rival  in 
business ;  but  who,  by  his  folly  and  arrogance,  would 
have  justified  any  reasonable  measure  of  severity. 
Frontenac,  however,  was  not  reasonable.  He  arrested 
Perrot,  threw  him  into  prison,  and  set  up  a  man  of 
his  own  as  governor  in  his  place ;  and  as  the  judge  of 
Montreal  was  not  in  his  interest,  he  removed  him, 
and  substituted  another  on  whom  he  could  rely. 
Thus  for  a  time  he  had  Montreal  well  in  hand. 

The  priests  of  the  Seminary,  seigniors  of  the  island, 
regarded  these  arbitrary  proceedings  with  extreme 
uneasiness.  They  claimed  the  right  of  nominating 
their  own  governor;  and  Perrot,  though  he  held  a 

1  Lettre  de  Frontenac  au  Ministre,  13  Nov.,  1673. 


1674.]  ABBE  F^NELON.  97 

commission  from  the  King,  owed  his  place  to  their 
appointment.  True,  he  had  set  them  at  nought,  and 
proved  a  veritable  King  Stork;  yet  nevertheless  they 
regarded  his  removal  as  an  infringement  of  their 
rights. 

During  the  quarrel  with  Perrot,  La  Salle  chanced 
to  be  at  Montreal,  lodged  in  the  house  of  Jacques  Le 
Ber,  who,  though  one  of  the  principal  merchants  and 
most  influential  inhabitants  of  the  settlement,  was 
accustomed  to  sell  goods  across  his  counter  in  person 
to  white  men  and  Indians,  his  wife  taking  his  place 
when  he  was  absent.  Such  were  the  primitive 
manners  of  the  secluded  little  colony.  Le  Ber,  at 
this  time,  was  in  the  interest  of  Frontenac  and  La 
Salle ;  though  he  afterwards  became  one  of  their  most 
determined  opponents.  Amid  the  excitement  and 
discussion  occasioned  by  Perrot's  arrest.  La  Salle 
declared  himself  an  adherent  of  the  governor,  and 
warned  all  persons  against  speaking  ill  of  him  in  his 
hearing. 

The  Abbd  Fdnelon,  already  mentioned  as  half- 
brother  to  the  famous  Archbishop,  had  attempted  to 
mediate  between  Frontenac  and  Perrot,  and  to  this 
end  had  made  a  journey  to  Quebec  on  the  ice,  in 
midwinter.  Being  of  an  ardent  temperament,  and 
more  courageous  than  prudent,  he  had  spoken  some- 
what indiscreetly,  and  had  been  very  roughly  treated 
by  the  stormy  and  imperious  Count.  He  returned 
to  Montreal  greatly  excited,  and  not  without  cause. 
It  fell  to  his  lot  to  preach  the  Easter  sermon.     The 


98  LA   SALLE   AND   FRONTENAC.  [1674. 

service  was  held  in  the  little  church  of  the  H8tel- 
Dieu,  wliich  was  crowded  to  the  porch,  all  the  chief 
pereoiis  of  the  settlement  being  present.  The  cure 
of  the  parish,  whose  name  also  was  Perrot,  said  High 
Mass,  assisted  by  La  Salle's  brother,  Cavelier,  and 
two  other  priests.  Then  F^nelon  mounted  the 
pulpit.  Certain  passages  of  his  sermon  were  obvi- 
ously levelled  against  Frontenac.  Speaking  of  the 
duties  of  those  clothed  Avith  temporal  authority,  he 
said  that  the  magistrate,  inspired  with  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  was  as  ready  to  pardon  offences  against  him- 
self as  to  punish  those  against  liis  prince;  that  he 
was  full  of  respect  for  the  ministers  of  the  altar,  and 
never  maltreated  them  when  they  attempted  to  recon- 
cile enemies  and  restore  peace ;  that  he  never  made 
favorites  of  those  who  flattered  him,  nor  under 
specious  pretexts  oppressed  other  persons  in  author- 
ity who  opposed  his  enterprises;  that  he  used  his 
power  to  serve  his  king,  and  not  to  his  own  advan- 
tage ;  that  he  remained  content  with  his  salary,  with- 
out disturbing  the  commerce  of  the  country,  or 
abusing  those  who  refused  him  a  share  in  their 
profits;  and  that  he  never  troubled  the  people  by 
inordinate  and  unjust  levies  of  men  and  material, 
using  the  name  of  his  prince  as  a  cover  to  his  own 
designs.^ 

1  Faillon,  Colonie  Fran^aise,  iii.  497,  and  manuscript  authorities 
there  cited.  I  liave  examined  the  principal  of  these.  Faillon  him- 
self is  a  priest  of  St.  Sulpice.  Compare  H.  Verreau,  Les  Deux  Abbes 
de  Fenelon,  chap.  vii.  ^ 


1674.]  LA  SALLE  AND  F^NELON.  99 

La  Salle  sat  near  the  door;  but  as  the  preacher 
proceeded  he  suddenly  rose  to  Ms  feet  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  congregation. 
As  they  turned  their  heads,  he  signed  to  the  principal 
persons  among  them,  and  by  his  angry  looks  and 
gesticulation  called  their  attention  to  the  words  of 
F^nelon.  Then  meeting  the  eye  of  the  cur^,  who  sat 
beside  the  altar,  he  made  the  same  signs  to  him,  to 
which  the  cure  replied  by  a  deprecating  shrug  of  the 
shoulders.  Fdnelon  changed  color,  but  continued  his 
sermon.  1 

This  indecent  proceeding  of  La  Salle,  and  the  zeal 
with  which  throughout  the  quarrel  he  took  the  part 
of  the  governor,  did  not  go  unrewarded.  Hence- 
forth, Frontenac  was  more  than  ever  his  friend ;  and 
this  plainly  appeared  in  the  disposition  made,  through 
his  mfluence,  of  the  new  fort  on  Lake  Ontario. 
Attempts  had  been  made  to  induce  the  king  to  have 
it  demolished;  but  it  was  resolved  at  last  that,  being 
built,  it  should  be  allowed  to  stand ;  and,  after  long 
delay,  a  final  arrangement  was  made  for  its  mainte- 
nance, in  the  manner  following:  In  the  autumn  of 
1674,  La  Salle  went  to  France,  with  letters  of  strong 
recommendation    from    Frontenac.^     He    was    well 

1  Information  f aide  par  nous,  Charles  le  Tardieu,  Sieur  de  Tilly,  et 
Nicolas  Dujyont,  etc.,  etc.,  contre  le  S''-  Abbe  de  Fenelon,  Tilly  aud 
Diipont  were  sent  by  Frontenac  to  inquire  into  the  affair.  Among 
the  deponents  is  La  Salle  liimself. 

2  In  his  despatch  to  the  minister  Colbert,  of  the  fourteenth  of 
November,  1674,  Frontenac  speaks  of  La  Salle  as  follows  :  "  I  can- 
not help,  Monseigneur,  recommending  to  you  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle, 


100  LA  SALLE   AND  FRONTENAC.  [1674. 

received  at  Court;  and  he  made  two  petitions  to  the 
King, — the  one  for  a  patent  of  nobility,  in  considera- 
tion of  his  services  as  an  explorer;  and  the  other  for 
a  grant  in  seigniory  of  Fort  Frontenac,  for  so  he 
called  the  new  post,  in  honor  of  his  patron.  On  his 
part,  he  offered  to  pay  back  the  ten  thousand  francs 
which  the  fort  had  cost  the  King ;  to  maintain  it  at 
his  own  charge,  with  a  garrison  equal  to  that  of 
Montreal,  besides  fifteen  or  twenty  laborers ;  to  form 
a  French  colony  around  it;  to  build  a  church,  when- 
ever the  number  of  inhabitants  should  reach  one 
hundred;  and,  meanwhile,  to  support  one  or  more 
R^collet  friars;  and,  finally,  to  form  a  settlement 
of  domesticated  Indians  in  the  neighborhood.  His 
offers  were  accepted.  He  was  raised  to  the  rank  of 
the  untitled  nobles ;  received  a  grant  of  the  fort  and 
lands  adjacent,  to  the  extent  of  four  leagues  in  front 
and  half  a  league  in  depth,  besides  the  neighboring 
islands;  and  was  invested  with  the  government  of 
the  fort  and  settlement,  subject  to  the  orders  of  the 
governor-general.^ 

who  is  about  to  go  to  France,  and  who  is  a  man  of  intelligence  and 
ability,  more  capable  than  anybody  else  I  know  here  to  accomplish 
every  kind  of  enterprise  and  discovery  which  may  be  intrusted  to 
him,  as  he  has  the  most  jierfect  knowledge  of  the  state  of  the  coun- 
try, as  you  will  see,  if  you  are  disposed  to  give  him  a  few  moments 
of  audience." 

1  Memoire  pour  I'entretien  du  Fort  Frontenac,  par  le  S''-  de  la  Salle, 
1674.  Petition  du  S"-  de  la  Salle  au  Roi.  Lettres  patentes  de  conces- 
sion, du  Fort  de  Frontenac  et  terres  adjacentes  au  profit  du  S^-  de  la 
Salle ;  donnees  a  Compiegne  le  13  Mai,  1675.  Arret  qui  accepte  les 
offres  faites  par  Robert  Cavelier  S''-  de  la  Salle ;  a  Compiegne  le  13 


La  Salle  presenting  a  Petition  to  Louis  XIV. 


Copyright  jSj^.  hu  Itlt/.' 


1675.]  ENEMIES   OF   LA   SALLE.  101 

La  Salle  returned  to  Canada,  proprietor  of  a 
seigniory  which,  all  things  considered,  was  one  of 
the  most  valuable  in  the  colony.  His  friends  and  his 
family,  rejoicing  in  his  good  fortune  and  not  unwill- 
ing to  share  it,  made  him  large  advances  of  money, 
enabling  him  to  pay  the  stipulated  sum  to  the  King, 
to  rebuild  the  fort  in  stone,  maintain  soldiers  and 
laborers,  and  procure  in  part,  at  least,  the  necessary 
outfit.  Had  La  Salle  been  a  mere  merchant,  he  was 
in  a  fair  way  to  make  a  fortune,  for  he  was  in  a  posi- 
tion to  control  the  better  part  of  the  Canadian  fur- 
trade.  But  he  was  not  a  mere  merchant;  and  no 
commercial  profit  could   content  his  ambition. 

Those  may  believe,  who  will,  that  Frontenac  did 
not  expect  a  share  in  the  profits  of  the  new  post. 
That  he  did  expect  it,  there  is  positive  evidence ;  for 
a  deposition  is  extant,  taken  at  the  instance  of  his 
enemy  the  Intendant  Duchesneau,  in  which  three 
witnesses  attest  that  the  governor,  La  Salle,  his 
lieutenant  La  Forest,  and  one  Boisseau,  had  formed 
a  partnersliip  to  carry  on  the  trade  of  Fort  Frontenac. 

No  sooner  was  La  Salle  installed  in  his  new  post 
than  the  merchants  of  Canada  joined  hands  to  oppose 
him.  Le  Ber,  once  his  friend,  became  his  bitter 
enemy;  for  he  himself  had  hoped  to  share  the 
monopoly  of  Fort  Frontenac,  of  which  he  and  one 
Bazire  had  at  first  been  placed  provisionally  in  con- 

Mai,  1675.  Lettres  de  noblesse  pour  le  S''-  Cavelier  de  la  Salle ;  donnees 
a  Compiegne  le  13  Mai,  1675.  Papiers  de  Famille.  Memoire  au 
Moi. 


102  LA  SALLE   AND  FRONTENAC.  [1G75. 

trol,  and  from  which  he  now  saw  himself  ejected. 
La  Chesnaye,  Le  Moyne,  and  others  of  more  or  less 
influence  took  part  in  the  league,  which,  in  fact, 
embraced  all  the  traders  in  the  colony  except  the  few 
joined  with  Frontenac  and  La  Salle.  Duchesneau, 
intendant  of  the  colony,  aided  the  malcontents.  As 
time  went  on,  their  bitterness  grew  more  bitter;  and 
when  at  last  it  was  seen  that,  not  satisfied  with  the 
monopoly  of  Fort  Frontenac,  La  Salle  aimed  at  the 
control  of  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  usufruct  of  half  a  continent,  the  ire  of  his 
opponents  redoubled,  and  Canada  became  for  him  a 
nest  of  hornets,  buzzing  in  wrath  and  watching  the 
moment  to  sting.  But  there  was  another  element  of 
opposition,  less  noisy,  but  not  less  formidable;  and 
this  arose  from  the  Jesuits.  Frontenac  hated  them ; 
and  they,  under  befitting  forms  of  duty  and  courtesy, 
paid  him  back  in  the  same  coin.  Having  no  love  for 
the  governor,  they  would  naturally  have  little  for 
his  partisan  and  protege;  but  their  opposition  had 
another  and  a  deeper  root,  for  the  plans  of  the  daring 
young  schemer  jarred  with  their  own. 

We  have  seen  the  Canadian  Jesuits  in  the  early 
apostolic  days  of  their  mission,  when  the  flame  of 
their  zeal,  fed  by  an  ardent  hope,  burned  bright  and 
high.  This  hope  was  doomed  to  disappointment. 
Their  avowed  purpose  of  building  another  Paraguay 
on  the  borders  of  the  Great  Lakes  ^  was  never  accom- 

^  This  purpose  is  several  times  indicated  in  the  Relations.  For 
an  instance,  see  "  The  Jesuits  in  North  America,"  i.  245. 


1675.]  PURPOSES  OF  THE  JESUITS.  103 

plished,  and  their  missions  and  their  converts  were 
swept  away  in  an  avalanche  of  ruin.  Still,  they 
would  not  despair.  From  the  lakes  they  turned 
their  eyes  to  tlie  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the 
hope  to  see  it  one  day  the  seat  of  their  new  empire  of 
the  Faith.  But  what  did  this  new  Paraguay  mean  ? 
It  meant  a  little  nation  of  converted  and  domesticated 
savages,  docile  as  children,  under  the  paternal  and 
absolute  rule  of  Jesuit  fathers,  and  trained  by  them 
in  industrial  pursuits,  the  results  of  wliich  were  to 
inure,  not  to  the  profit  of  the  producers,  but  to  the 
building  of  churches,  the  founding  of  colleges,  the  es- 
tablishment of  warehouses  and  magazines,  and  the 
construction  of  works  of  defence,  —  all  controlled  by 
Jesuits,  and  forming  a  part  of  the  vast  possessions  of 
the  Order.  Such  was  the  old  Paraguay  ;i  and  such, 
we  may  suppose,  would  have  been  the  new,  had  the 
plans  of  those  who  designed  it  been  realized. 

I  have  said  that  since  the  middle  of  the  century 
the  religious  exaltation  of  the  early  missions  had 
sensibly  declined.  In  the  nature  of  things,  that 
grand  enthusiasm  was  too  intense  and  fervent  to  be 
long  sustained.  But  the  vital  force  of  Jesuitism  had 
suffered  no  diminution.  That  marvellous  es;prit  dc 
corps,  that  extinction  of  self  and  absorption  of  the 
individual  in  the  Order  which  has  marked  the  Jesuits 
from  their  first  existence  as  a  body,  was  no  whit 
changed  or  lessened,  —  a  principle,   which,   though 

^  Compare  Charlevoix,  Histoire  de  Paraguay,  with  Robertson, 
Letters  on  Paraguay. 


104  LA   SALLE   AND   FRONTENAC.  [1675. 

different,  was  no  less  strong  than  the  self-devoted 
patriotism  of  Sparta  or  the  early  Roman  Republic. 

The  Jesuits  were  no  longer  supreme  in  Canada; 
or,  in  other  words,  Canada  was  no  longer  simply  a 
mission.  It  had  become  a  colony.  Temporal  interests 
and  the  civil  power  were  constantly  gaining  ground ; 
and  the  disciples  of  Loyola  felt  that  relatively,  if  not 
absolutely,  they  were  losing  it.  They  struggled 
vigorously  to  maintain  the  ascendency  of  their  Order, 
or,  as  they  would  have  expressed  it,  the  ascendency 
of  religion;  but  in  the  older  and  more  settled  parts 
of  the  colony  it  was  clear  that  the  day  of  their  undi- 
vided rule  was  past.  Therefore,  they  looked  with 
redoubled  solicitude  to  their  missions  in  the  West. 
They  had  been  among  its  first  explorers;  and  they 
hoped  that  here  the  Catholic  Faith,  as  represented 
by  Jesuits,  might  reign  with  undisputed  sway.  In 
Paraguay,  it  was  their  constant  aim  to  exclude  white 
men  from  their  missions.  It  was  the  same  in  North 
America.  They  dreaded  fur-traders,  partly  because 
they  interfered  with  their  teachings  and  perverted 
their  converts,  and  partly  for  other  reasons.  But  La 
Salle  was  a  fur-trader,  and  far  worse  than  a  fur- 
trader:  he  aimed  at  occupation,  fortification,  and 
settlement.  The  scope  and  vigor  of  his  enterprises, 
and  the  powerful  influence  that  aided  them,  made 
him  a  stumbling-block  in  their  path.  He  was  their 
most  dangerous  rival  for  the  control  of  the  West, 
and  from  first  to  last  they  set  themselves  against 
him. 


1674-78.]  SPIRIT  OP  LA  SALLE.  105 

What  manner  of  man  was  he  who  could  con- 
ceive designs  so  vast  and  defy  enmities  so  many 
and  so  powerful?  And  in  what  spirit  did  he  em- 
brace these  designs  ?  We  will  look  hereafter  for  an 
answer. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1678. 

PAKTY  STRIFE. 

La  Salle  ant>  his  Reporter.  —  Jesuit  Ascexdenct.  —  The  Mis- 
sions   AND    THE    FcR-TRADE.  FeMALE     INQUISITORS.  PlOTS 

AGAINST  La  Salle:  his  Brother  the  Priest.  —  Intrigues  of 
THE  Jesuits.  —  L..  Salle  poisoned  :  he  exculpates  the  Jesu- 
its. —  Renewed  Intrigues. 

One  of  the  most  curious  monuments  of  La  Salle's 
time  is  a  long  memoir,  written  by  a  person  who  made 
his  acquaintance  at  Paris  in  the  summer  of  1678, 
when,  as  we  shall  soon  see,  he  had  returned  to  France 
in  prosecution  of  his  plans.  The  writer  knew  the 
Sulpitian  Galin^e,^  who,  as  he  says,  had  a  very  high 
opinion  of  La  Salle ;  and  he  was  also  in  close  relations 
with  the  discoverer's  patron,  the  Prince  de  Conti.^ 
He  says  that  he  had  ten  or  twelve  interviews  with  La 
Salle;  and,  becoming  interested  in  him  and  in  that 
which  he  communicated,  he  wrote  down  the  substance 
of  his  conversation.     The  paper  is  divided  into  two 

1  Ante,  p.  17. 

2  Louis-Armand  de  Bourbon,  second  Prince  de  Conti.  The 
author  of  the  memoir  seems  to  have  been  Abbe'  Renaudot,  a  learned 
churchman. 


1678.]  LA  SALLE'S  MEMOIR.  107 

parts:  the  first,  called  "M^moire  sur  Mr.  de  la 
Salle,"  is  devoted  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  Canada, 
and  chiefly  to  the  Jesuits;  the  second,  entitled 
"Histoire  de  Mr.  de  la  Salle,"  is  an  account  of  the 
discoverer's  life,  or  as  much  of  it  as  the  writer  had 
learned  from  him.^  Both  parts  bear  throughout  the 
internal  evidence  of  being  what  they  profess  to  be ; 
but  they  embody  the  statements  of  a  man  of  intense 
partisan  feeling,  transmitted  through  the  mind  of 
another  person  in  sympathy  with  him,  and  evidently 
sharing  his  prepossessions.  In  one  respect,  however, 
the  paper  is  of  unquestionable  historical  value ;  for  it 
gives  us  a  vivid  and  not  an  exaggerated  picture  of 
the  bitter  strife  of  parties  which  then  raged  in 
Canada,  and  which  was  destined  to  tax  to  the  utmost 
the  vast  energy  and  fortitude  of  La  Salle.  At  times, 
the  memoir  is  fully  sustained  by  contemporary  evi- 
dence; but  often,  again,  it  rests  on  its  own  unsup- 
ported authority.  I  give  an  abstract  of  its  statements 
as  I  find  them. 

The  following  is  the  writer's  account  of  La  Salle : 
"  All  those  among  my  friends  who  have  seen  him  find 
him  a  man  of  great  intelligence  and  sense.  He  rarely 
speaks  of  any  subject  except  when  questioned  about 
it,  and  his  words  are  very  few  and  very  precise.  He 
distinguishes  perfectly  between  that  which  he  knows 
with  certainty  and  that  which  he  knows  with  some 
mingling  of  doubt.     When  he  does  not  know,  he  does 

1  Extracts  from  this  have  already  been  given  in  connection  with 
La  Salle's  supposed  discovery  of  the  Mississippi.    Ante,  p.  29. 


108  PARTY  STRIFE.  [1678. 

not  hesitate  to  avow  it;  and  though  I  have  heard 
liim  say  the  same  thing  more  than  five  or  six  times, 
when  persons  were  present  who  had  not  heard  it 
before,  he  always  said  it  in  the  same  manner.  In 
short,  I  never  heard  anybody  speak  whose  words 
carried  with  them  more  marks  of  truth.  "^ 

After  mentioning  that  he  is  thirty-three  or  thirty- 
four  years  old,  and  that  he  has  been  twelve  years  in 
America,  the  memoir  declares  that  he  made  the  fol- 
lowing statements:  that  the  Jesuits  are  masters  at 
Quebec;  that  the  bishop  is  their  creature,  and  does 
nothing  but  in  concert  with  them ;  ^  that  he  is  not 
well  inclined  towards  the  R^collets,^  who  have  little 

1  "  Tous  ceux  de  mes  amis  qui  I'ont  vu  luy  trouve  beaucoup 
d'esprit  et  un  tres-grand  sens ;  il  ne  parle  gueres  que  des  choses  sur 
lesquelles  on  I'interroge ;  il  les  dit  en  tres-peu  de  mots  et  tres-bien 
circonstanciees  ;  il  distingue  parfaitement  ce  qu'il  scait  avec  certi- 
tude, de  ce  qu'il  scait  avec  quelque  melange  de  doute.  II  avoue 
sans  aucune  fa(;on  ne  pas  savoir  ce  qu'il  ne  scait  pas,  et  quoyque  je 
luy  aye  ouy  dire  plus  de  cinq  ou  six  fois  les  mesme  choses  a  I'occa- 
sion  de  quelques  personnes  qui  ne  les  avaient  point  encore  entendues, 
je  les  luy  ay  toujours  ouy  dire  de  la  mesme  maniere.  En  un  mot 
je  n'ay  jamais  ouy  parler  personne  dont  les  paroles  portassent  plus 
de  marques  de  verite." 

2  "  II  y  a  une  autre  chose  qui  me  deplait,  qui  est  I'entiere  depen- 
dence dans  laquelle  les  Pretres  du  S^minaire  de  Quebec  et  le  Grand 
Vicairc  de  I'Eveque  sont  pour  les  Peres  Jesuites,  car  il  ne  fait  pas 
la  moindre  chose  sans  leur  ordre ;  ce  qui  fait  qu'indirectement  ils 
sont  les  maitres  de  ce  qui  regarde  le  spirituel,  qui,  comma  vous 
savez,  est  une  grande  machine  pour  remuer  tout  le  reste."  —  Lettre 
de  Frontenac  h  Colbert,  2  Nov.,  1672. 

8  "  Ces  re'ligieux  [les  Recollets]  sont  fort  proteges  partout  par  le 
comte  de  Frontenac,  gouverneur  du  pays,  et  h,  cause  de  cela  assez 
maltraite's  par  I'evesque,  parceque  la  doctrine  de  I'evesque  et  des 
Jesuites  est  que  les  affaires  de  la  Re'ligion  chrestienne  n'iront  point 
bien  dans  ce  pays-Ik  que  quand  le  gouverneur  sera  cre'ature  des 


1678.]  JESUIT  ASCENDENCY.  109 

credit,  but  who  are  protected  by  Frontenac ;  that  in 
Canada  the  Jesuits  think  everybody  an  enemy  to 
religion  who  is  an  enemy  to  them ;  that,  though  they 
refused  absolution  to  all  who  sold  brandy  to  the 
Indians,  they  sold  it  themselves,  and  that  he,  La 
Salle,  had  himself  detected  them  in  it;i  that  the 
bishop  laughs  at  the  orders  of  the  King  when  they 
do  not  agree  with  the  wishes  of  the  Jesuits ;  that  the 
Jesuits  dismissed  one  of  their  servants  named  Robert, 
because  he  told  of  their  trade  in  brandy;  that 
Albanel,2  in  particular,  carried  on  a  great  fur- trade, 
and  that  the  Jesuits  have  built  their  college  in  part 
from   the   profits   of  this  kind  of  traffic;  that  they 

Jesuites,  ou  que  Tevesque  sera  gouverneur."  —  Memoire  sur  M'''  de 
la  Salle. 

^  "  lis  [les  Jesuites]  re'fusent  I'absolution  k  ceux  qui  ne  veulent 
pas  promettre  de  n'en  plus  vendre  [de  l' eau-de-vie],  et  s'ils  raeurent 
en  cet  etat,  ils  les  privent  de  la  se'pulture  ecclesiastique ;  au  con- 
traire  ils  se  permettent  "k  eux-memes  sans  aucune  diiBculte  ce  mesme 
trafic  quoique  toute  sorte  de  trafic  soit  interdite  a  tous  les  eccle'sias- 
tiques  par  les  ordonnances  du  Koy,  et  par  une  bulle  expresse  du 
Pape.  La  Bulle  et  les  ordonnances  sont  notoires,  et  quoyqu'ils 
cachent  le  trafic  qu'ils  font  d'eau-de-vie,  M.  de  la  Salle  pretend  qu'il 
ne  Test  pas  moins  ;  qu'outre  la  notorie'te'  il  en  a  des  preuves  certaines, 
et  qu'il  les  a  surpris  dans  ce  trafic,  et  qu'ils  luy  out  tendu  des  pieges 
pour  I'y  surprendre.  ...  lis  ont  chasse  leur  valet  Eobert  k  cause 
qu'il  revela  qu'ils  en  traitaient  jour  et  nuit."  —  Ibid.  The  writer 
saj^s  that  he  makes  this  last  statement,  not  on  the  authority  of  La 
Salle,  but  on  that  of  a  memoir  made  at  the  time  when  the  intendant, 
Talon,  with  whom  he  elsewhere  says  that  he  was  well  acquainted, 
returned  to  France.  A  great  number  of  particulars  are  added 
respecting  the  Jesuit  trade  in  furs. 

2  Albanel  was  prominent  among  the  Jesuit  explorers  at  this 
time.  He  is  best  known  by  his  journey  up  the  Saguenay  to  Hud- 
son's Bay  in  1672. 


110  PARTY  STRIFE.  [1678. 

admitted  that  they  carried  on  a  trade,  but  denied 
tliat  they  gained  so  much  by  it  as  was  commonly 
supposed.^ 

The  memoir  proceeds  to  affirm  that  they  trade 
largely  with  the  Sioux  at  Ste.  Marie,  and  with  other 
tribes  at  Michilimackinac,  and  that  they  are  masters 
of  the  trade  of  that  region,  where  the  forts  are  in 
their  possession. ^  An  Indian  said,  in  full  council, 
at  Quebec,  that  he  had  prayed  and  been  a  Christian 
as  long  as  the  Jesuits  would  stay  and  teach  him,  but 
since  no  more  beaver  were  left  in  his  country,  the 
missionaries  were  gone  also.  The  Jesuits,  pursues 
the  memoir,  will  have  no  priests  but  themselves  in 
their  missions,  and  call  them  all  Jansenists,  not 
excepting  the  priests  of  St.  Sulpice. 

The  bishop  is  next  accused  of  harshness  and 
intolerance,  as  well  as  of  growing  rich  by  tithes,  and 
even  by  trade,  in  which  it  is  affirmed  he  has  a  covert 
interest. 3  It  is  added  that  there  exists  in  Quebec, 
under   the   auspices   of   the   Jesuits,    an   association 

1  "  Pour  Tous  parler  franchement,  ils  [les  Jesuites]  songent  autant 
k  la  conversion  du  Castor  qu'a  celle  (les  ames."  —  Lettre  de  Frontenac 
a  Colbert,  2  Nov.,  1672. 

In  his  despatch  of  the  next  year,  he  says  that  the  Jesuits  ought 
to  content  themselves  with  instructing  the  Indians  in  their  old  mis- 
sions, instead  of  neglecting  them  to  make  new  ones  in  countries 
where  there  are  "  more  beaver-skins  to  gain  than  souls  to  save." 

2  These  forts  were  buili  by  them,  and  were  necessary  to  tlie  secu- 
rity of  their  missions. 

3  rran9ois  Xavier  de  Laval-Montmorency,  first  bishop  of  Que- 
bec, was  a  prelate  of  austere  character.  His  memory  is  cherished 
in  Canada  by  adherents  of  the  Jesuits  and  all  ultramontane 
Catholics. 


1678.]  FEMALE  INQUISITORS.  Ill 

called  the  Sainte  Famille,  of  which  Madame  Bourdon  ^ 
is  superior.  They  meet  in  the  cathedral  every 
Thursday,  with  closed  doors,  where  they  relate  to 
each  other  —  as  they  are  bound  by  a  vow  to  do  —  all 
they  have  learned,  whether  good  or  evil,  concerning 
other  people,  during  the  week.  It  is  a  sort  of  female 
inquisition,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Jesuits,  the  secrets 
of  whose  friends,  it  is  said,  are  kept,  while  no  such 
discretion  is  observed  with  regard  to  persons  not  of 
their  party.  ^ 

1  This  Madame  Bourdon  was  the  widow  of  Bourdon,  the  engineer 
(see  "The  Jesuits  in  North  America,"  ii.  119).  If  we  may  credit 
the  letters  of  Marie  de  I'lncarnation,  she  had  married  him  from  a 
religious  motive,  in  order  to  charge  herself  with  the  care  of  his 
motherless  cliildren ;  stipulating  in  advance  that  he  should  live 
with  her,  not  as  a  husband,  but  as  a  brother.  As  may  be  imagined, 
she  was  regarded  as  a  most  devout  and  saint-like  person. 

^  "  II  y  a  dans  Quebec  une  congregation  de  femmes  et  de  filles 
qu'ils  [les  Jesuites]  appellent  la  sainte  famille,  dans  laquelle  on  fait 
voeu  sur  les  Saints  Evangiles  de  dire  tout  ce  qu'on  sait  de  bien  et  de 
mal  des  personnes  qu'on  connoist.  La  Superieure  de  cette  com- 
pagnie  s'appelle  Madame  Bourdon ;  une  M'^'^-  d'Ailleboust  est,  je 
crois,  I'assistante  et  une  M<*^-  Cliarron,  la  Tre'soriere.  La  Compagnie 
s'assemble  tous  les  Jeudis  dans  la  Cathe'drale,  a  porte  fermee,  et  la 
elles  se  disent  les  unes  aux  autres  tout  ce  qu'cUes  ont  appris.  C'est 
une  espece  d'Inquisition  contre  toutes  les  personnes  qui  ne  sont  pas 
unies  avec  les  Je'suites.  Ces  personnes  sont  accuse'es  de  tenir  secret 
ce  qu'elles  apprennent  de  mal  des  personnes  de  leur  party  et  de 
n'avoir  pas  la  mesme  discretion  pour  les  autres."  —  Memoire  sur 
M'--  de  la  Salle. 

The  Madame  d'Ailleboust  mentioned  above  was  a  devotee  like 
Madame  Bourdon,  and,  in  one  respect,  her  history  was  similar.  See 
"  The  Jesuits  in  North  America,"  ii.  82. 

The  association  of  the  Sainte  Famille  was  founded  by  the  Jesuit 
Chaumonot  at  Montreal  in  1663.  Laval,  Bishop  of  Quebec,  after- 
wards encouraged  its  establishment  at  that  place ;  and,  as  Chaumo- 
not himself  vrrites,  caused  it  to  be  attached  to  the  cathedral.     Vie 


112  PARTY   STRIFE.  [1678. 

Here  follow  a  series  of  statements  which  it  is  need- 
less to  repeat,  as  they  do  not  concern  La  Salle. 
They  relate  to  abuse  of  the  confessional,  hostility  to 
other  priests,  hostility  to  civil  authorities,  and  over- 
hasty  baptisms,  in  regard  to  which  La  Salle  is 
reported  to  have  made  a  comparison,  unfavorable  to 
the  Jesuits,  between  them  and  the  Rdcollets  and 
Sulpitians. 

We  now  come  to  the  second  part  of  the  memoir, 
entitled  "History  of  Monsieur  de  la  Salle."  After 
stating  that  he  left  France  at  the  age  of  twentj^-one 
or  twenty-two,  with  the  purpose  of  attempting  some 
new  discovery,  it  makes  the  statements  repeated  in  a 
former  chapter,  concerning  his  discovery  of  the  Ohio, 
the  Illinois,  and  possibly  the  Mississippi.  It  then 
mentions  the  building  of  Fort  Frontenac,  and  says 
that  one  object  of  it  was  to  prevent  the  Jesuits  from 
becoming  undisputed  masters  of  the  fur-trade.^ 
Three  years  ago,  it  pursues,  La  Salle  came  to  France, 
and  obtained  a  grant  of  the  fort ;  and  it  proceeds  to 
give  examples  of  the  means  used  by  the  party  opposed 
to  him  to  injure  his  good  name  and  bring  him  within 
reach  of  the  law.  Once,  when  he  was  at  Quebec, 
the  farmer  of  the  King's  revenue,  one  of  the  richest 

de  Chaumonot,  83.  For  its  establishment  at  Montreal,  see  Faillon, 
Vie  de  M^^e.  Mance,  i.  233. 

"  lis  [les  Jesuites]  ont  tous  une  si  grande  envie  de  savoir  tout  ce 
qui  se  fait  dans  les  families  qu'ils  ont  des  Inspecteurs  h  gages  dans 
la  Villc,  qui  leur  rapportent  tout  ce  qui  se  fait  dans  les  maisons," 
etc.,  etc.  —  Lettre  de  Frontenac  an  Ministre,  13  Nov.,  1673. 

1  Mention  has  been  made  (p.  88,  note)  of  the  report  set  on  foot 
by  the  Jesuit  Dablon,  to  prevent  the  building  of  the  fort. 


1678.]  PLOTS  AGAINST   LA  SALLE.  118 

men  in  the  place,  was  extremely  urgent  in  his  proffers 
of  hospitality,  and  at  length,  though  he  knew  La 
Salle  but  slightly,  persuaded  him  to  lodge  in  his 
house.  He  had  been  here  but  a  few  days  when  his 
host's  wife  began  to  enact  the  part  of  the  wife  of 
Potiphar,  and  this  with  so  much  vivacity  that  on  one 
occasion  La  Salle  was  forced  to  take  an  abrupt  leave, 
in  order  to  avoid  an  infringement  of  the  laws  of  hos- 
pitality. As  he  opened  the  door,  he  found  the  hus- 
band on  the  watch,  and  saw  that  it  was  a  plot  to 
entrap  him.^ 

Another  attack,  of  a  different  character,  though 
in  the  same  direction,  was  soon  after  made.  The 
remittances  which  La  Salle  received  from  the  various 
members  and  connections  of  his  family  were  sent 
through  the  hands  of  his  brother,  Abb^  Cavelier, 
from  whom  his  enemies  were,  therefore,  very  eager 
to  alienate  him.  To  this  end,  a  report  was  made  to 
reach  the  priest's  ears  that  La  Salle  had  seduced  a 
young  woman,  with  whom  he  was  living  in  an  open 
and  scandalous  manner  at  Fort  Frontenac.  The 
effect  of  this  device  exceeded  the  wishes  of  its  con- 
trivers ;  for  the  priest,  aghast  at  what  he  had  heard, 
set  out  for  the  fort,  to  administer  his  fraternal  rebuke, 
but  on  arriving,  in  place  of  the  expected  abomination, 
found  his  brother,  assisted  by  two  R^collet  friars, 
ruling  with  edifying  propriety  over  a  most  exemplary 
household. 

1  This  story  is  told  at  considerable  length,  and  the  advances  of 
the  lady  particularly  described. 


114  PARTY  STRIFE.  [1678. 

Thus  far  the  memoir.  From  passages  in  some  of 
La  Salle's  letters,  it  may  be  gathered  that  Abbd 
Cavelier  gave  him  at  times  no  little  annoyance.  In 
his  double  character  of  priest  and  elder  brother,  he 
seems  to  have  constituted  himself  the  counsellor, 
monitor,  and  guide  of  a  man  who,  though  many  years 
his  junior,  was  in  all  respects  incomparably  superior 
to  him,  as  the  sequel  will  show.  This  must  have 
been  almost  insufferable  to  a  nature  like  that  of  La 
Salle,  who,  nevertheless,  was  forced  to  arm  himself 
with  patience,  since  his  brother  held  the  purse- 
strings.  On  one  occasion  his  forbearance  was  put 
to  a  severe  proof,  when,  wishing  to  marry  a  damsel 
of  good  connections  in  the  colony,  Abbd  Cavelier  saw 
fit  for  some  reason  to  interfere,  and  prevented  the 
alliance.^ 

To  resume  the  memoir.  It  declares  that  the 
Jesuits  procured  an  ordinance  from  the  Supreme 
Council  prohibiting  traders  from  going  into  the 
Indian  country,  in  order  that  they,  the  Jesuits, 
being  already  established  there  in  their  missions, 
might  carry  on  trade  without  competition.  But  La 
Salle  induced  a  good  number  of  the  Iroquois  to  settle 
around  his  fort;  thus  bringing  the  trade  to  his 
own  door,  without  breaking  the  ordinance.  These 
Iroquois,  he  is  further  reported  to  have  said,  were 
very  fond  of  him,  and  aided  him  in  rebuilding  the 
fort  with  cut  stone.  The  Jesuits  told  the  Iroquois 
on  the  south  side  of  the  lake,  where  they  were  estab- 
1  Letter  of  La  Salle,  in  possession  of  M.  Margry. 


1678.]  INTRIGUES  OF  THE  JESUITS.  115 

lished  as  missionaries,  that  La  Salle  was  strengthen- 
ing his  defences  with  the  view  of  making  war  on 
them.  They  and  the  intendant,  who  was  their  crea- 
ture, endeavored  to  embroil  the  Iroquois  with  the 
French  in  order  to  ruin  La  Salle ;  writing  to  him  at 
the  same  time  that  he  was  the  bulwark  of  the  country, 
and  that  he  ought  to  be  always  on  his  guard.  They 
also  tried  to  persuade  Frontenac  that  it  was  necessary 
to  raise  men  and  prepare  for  war.  La  Salle  suspected 
them;  and  seeing  that  the  Iroquois,  in  consequence 
of  their  intrigues,  were  in  an  excited  state,  he 
induced  the  governor  to  come  to  Fort  Frontenac  to 
pacify  them.  He  accordingly  did  so ;  and  a  council 
was  held,  which  ended  in  a  complete  restoration  of 
confidence  on  the  part  of  the  Iroquois.^  At  this 
council  they  accused  the  two  Jesuits,  Bruyas  and 
Pierron,2  of  spreading  reports  that  the  French  were 
preparing  to  attack  them.     La  Salle  thought  that  the 

1  Louis  XIV.  alludes  to  this  visit,  in  a  letter  to  Frontenac,  dated 
28  April,  1677.  "  I  cannot  but  approve,"  he  writes,  "  of  what  you 
have  done,  in  your  voyage  to  Fort  Frontenac,  to  reconcile  the 
minds  of  the  Five  Iroquois  Nations,  and  to  clear  yourself  from  the 
suspicions  they  had  entertained,  and  from  the  motives  that  might 
induce  tliem  to  make  war."  Frontenac's  despatches  of  this  year, 
as  well  as  of  the  preceding  and  following  years,  are  missing  from 
the  archives. 

In  a  memoir  written  in  November,  1680,  La  Salle  alludes  to  "  le 
desir  que  I'on  avoit  que  Monseigneur  le  Comte  de  Frontenac  fist  la 
guerre  aux  Iroquois."  See  Thomassy,  Geologie  Pratique  de  la  Loui- 
siane,  203. 

2  Bruyas  was  about  this  time  stationed  among  the  Onondagas. 
Pierron  was  among  the  Senecas.  He  had  lately  removed  to  them 
from  the  Mohawk  country.  Relation  des  Jesuites,  167.3-79,  140 
(Shea).    Bruyas  was  also  for  a  long  time  among  the  Mohawks. 


116  PARTY  STRIFE.  [1678. 

object  of  the  intrigue  was  to  make  the  Iroquois 
jealous  of  him,  and  engage  Frontenac  in  expenses 
which  would  offend  the  King.  After  La  Salle  and 
tlie  governor  had  lost  credit  by  the  rupture,  the 
Jesuits  would  come  forward  as  pacificators,  in  the 
full  assurance  that  they  could  restore  quiet,  and 
appear  in  the  attitude  of  saviors  of  the  colony. 

La  Salle,  pursues  his  reporter,  went  on  to  say  that 
about  this  time  a  quantity  of  hemlock  and  verdigris 
was  given  him  in  a  salad ;  and  that  the  guilty  person 
was  a  man  in  his  employ  named  Nicolas  Perrot, 
otherwise  called  Jolycceur,  who  confessed  the  crime. ^ 
The  memoir  adds  that  La  Salle,  who  recovered  from 
the  effects  of  the  poison,  wholly  exculpates  the 
Jesuits. 

This  attempt,  which  was  not,  as  we  shall  see,  the 
only  one  of  the  kind  made  against  La  Salle,  is 
alluded  to  by  him  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  at  Paris, 

*  This  puts  the  character  of  Perrot  in  a  new  light ;  for  it  is  not 
likely  that  any  other  can  be  meant  than  the  famous  voyageur.  I 
have  found  no  mention  elsewhere  of  the  synonyme  of  Jolycceur. 
Poisoning  was  the  current  crime  of  the  day,  and  persons  of  the 
highest  rank  had  repeatedly  been  charged  with  it.  The  following 
is  the  passage  :  — 

"  Quoiqu'il  en  soit,  M""-  de  la  Salle  se  sentit  quelque  temps  apres 
empoissonne  d'une  salade  dans  laquelle  on  avoit  mesle'  du  cigue, 
qui  est  poison  en  ce  pays  Yk,  et  du  verd  de  gris.  II  en  fut  malade  k 
I'extre'mite,  vomissant  presque  continuellement  40  ou  50  jours  apres, 
et  il  ne  re'chappa  que  par  la  force  extreme  de  sa  constitution.  Celuy 
qui  luy  donna  le  poison  fut  un  nomme  Nicolas  Perrot,  autrement 
Jolycceur,  I'un  de  ses  domestiques.  ...  II  pouvait  faire  mourir  cet 
homme,  qui  a  confesse  son  crime,  mais  il  s'est  contente  de  I'en- 
f ermer  les  fers  aux  pieds."  —  Histoire  de  M''-  de  la  Salle. 


1678.]    LA  SALLE  EXCULPATES  THE  JESUITS.    117 

written  in  Canada  when  he  was  on  the  point  of 
departure  on  L^'s  great  expedition  to  descend  the 
Mississippi.     The  following  is  an  extract  from  it: 

"  I  hope  to  give  myself  the  honor  of  sending  you  a 
more  particular  account  of  this  enterprise  when  it 
shall  have  had  the  success  which  I  hope  for  it;  but  I 
have  need  of  a  strong  protection  for  its  support.  It 
traverses  the  commercial  operations  of  certain  persons, 
who  will  find  it  hard  to  endure  it.  They  intended  to 
make  a  new  Paraguay  in  these  parts,  and  the  route 
which  I  close  against  them  gave  them  facilities  for 
an  advantageous  correspondence  with  Mexico.  This 
check  will  infallibly  be  a  mortification  to  them ;  and 
you  know  how  they  deal  with  whatever  opposes  them. 
Nevertheless^  I  am  hound  to  render  them  the  justice  to 
say  that  the  poison  which  was  given  me  was  not  at  all 
of  their  instigation.  The  person  who  was  conscious 
of  the  guilt,  believing  that  I  was  their  enemy  because 
he  saw  that  our  sentiments  were  opposed,  thought  to 
exculpate  himself  by  accusing  them,  and  I  confess 
that  at  the  time  I  was  not  sorry  to  have  this  indica- 
tion of  their  ill-will ;  but  having  afterwards  carefully 
examined  the  affair,  I  clearly  discovered  the  falsity 
of  the  accusation  which  this  rascal  had  made  against 
them.  I  nevertheless  pardoned  him,  in  order  not  to 
give  notoriety  to  the  affair;  as  the  mere  suspicion 
might  sully  their  reputation,  to  which  I  should 
scrupulously  avoid  doing  the  slightest  injury  unless  I 
thought  it  necessary  to  the  good  of  the  public,  and 
unless     the    fact    were    fully    proved.     Therefore, 


118  PARTY   STRIFE.  [1678. 

Monsieur,  if  anybody  shared  the  suspicion  which  I 
felt,  oblige  me  by  undeceiving  him."^ 

This  letter,  so  honorable  to  La  Salle,  explains  the 
statement  made  in  the  memoir,  that,  notwithstanding 
his  grounds  of  complaint  against  the  Jesuits,  he  con- 
tinued to  live  on  terms  of  courtesy  with  them,  enter- 
tained them  at  his  fort,  and  occasionally  corresponded 
with  them.  The  writer  asserts,  however,  that  they 
intrigued  with  his  men  to  induce  them  to  desert,  — 
employing  for  this  purpose  a  young  man  named 
Deslauriers,  whom  they  sent  to  him  with  letters  of 
recommendation.  La  Salle  took  him  into  his  service ; 
but  he  soon  after  escaped,  with  several  other  men, 
and  took  refuge  in  the  Jesuit  missions. ^  The  object 
of  the  intrigue  is  said  to  have  been  the  reduction  of 
La  Salle's  garrison  to  a  number  less  than  that  which 
he  was  bound  to  maintain,  thus  exposing  him  to  a 
forfeiture  of  his  title  of  possession. 

He  is  also  stated  to  have  declared  that  Louis  Joliet 
was  an  impostor,  ^  and  a  donne  of  the  Jesuits,  —  that 

1  The  following  words  are  underlined  in  the  original :  "  Je  suis 
pourtant  oblige  de  leur  rendre  une  justice,  que  le  poison  qu'on  m'avoit 
donne  n'estoit  point  de  leur  instigation."  —  Lettre  de  La  Salle  au  Prince 
de  Conti,  31  Oct.,  1678. 

2  In  a  letter  to  the  liing,  Frontenac  mentions  that  several  men 
who  had  been  induced  to  desert  from  La  Salle  had  gone  to  Albany, 
where  the  English  had  received  them  well.  Lettre  de  Frontenac  au 
Roy,  6  Nov.,  1679.  The  Jesuits  had  a  mission  in  the  neighboring 
tribe  of  the  Mohawks  and  elsewhere  in  New  York. 

8  This  agrees  with  expressions  used  by  La  Salle  in  a  memoir 
addressed  by  him  to  Frontenac  in  November,  1680.  In  this,  he 
intimates  his  belief  that  Joliet  went  but  little  below  the  mouth  of 
the  Illinois,  thus  doing  flagrant  injustice  to  that  brave  explorer. 


1678.]  RENEWED  INTRIGUES.  119 

is,  a  man  who  worked  for  them  without  pay;  and, 
further,  that  when  he.  La  Salle,  came  to  court  to  ask 
for  privileges  enabling  him  to  pursue  his  discoveries, 
the  Jesuits  represented  in  advance  to  the  minister 
Colbert  that  his  head  was  turned,  and  that  he  was  fit 
for  nothing  but  a  mad-house.  It  was  only  by  the  aid 
of  influential  friends  that  he  was  at  length  enabled  to 
gain  an  audience. 

Here  ends  this  remarkable  memoir,  which,  criticise 
it  as  we  may,  does  not  exaggerate  the  jealousies  and 
enmities  that  beset  the  path  of  the  discoverer. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

1677,  1678. 

THE  GBAND  ENTERPRISE. 

La  Salle  at  Fort  Feontenac.  — La  Salle  at  Court:  his  Memo- 
rial. —  Approval  of  the  King.  —  Money  and  Means.  —  Henri 
»E  ToNTY.  —  Return  to  Canada. 

"Ip,"  writes  a  friend  of  La  Salle,  "he  had  preferred 
gain  to  glory,  he  had  only  to  stay  at  his  fort,  where 
he  was  making  more  than  twenty-five  thousand  livres 
a  year."i  He  loved  solitude  and  he  loved  power; 
and  at  Fort  Frontenac  he  had  both,  so  far  as  each 
consisted  with  the  other.  The  nearest  settlement 
was  a  week's  journey  distant,  and  he  was  master  of 
all  around  him.  He  had  spared  no  pains  to  fulfil  the 
conditions  on  which  his  wilderness  seigniory  had  been 
granted,  and  within  two  years  he  had  demolished  the 
original  wooden  fort,  replacing  it  by  another  much 
larger,  enclosed  on  the  land  side  by  ramparts  and 
bastions  of  stone,  and  on  the  water  side  by  palisades. 
It  contained  a  range  of  barracks  of  squared  timber,  a 
guard-house,  a  lodging  for  officers,  a  forge,  a  well, 

1  Memoire  pour  Monseigneur  le  Marquis  de  Seignelay  sur  les  Des- 
couvertes  du  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  1682. 


1675-78.]    LA  SALLE  AT  FORT   FRONTENAC.        121 

a  mill,  and  a  bakery.  Nine  small  cannon  were 
mounted  on  the  walls.  Two  ofiScers  and  a  surgeon, 
with  ten  or  twelve  soldiers,  made  up  the  garrison; 
and  three  or  foui'  times  that  number  of  masons, 
laborers,  and  canoe-men  were  at  one  time  maintained 
at  the  place. 

Along  the  shore  south  of  the  fort  was  a  small 
village  of  French  families,  to  whom  La  Salle  had 
granted  farms,  and,  farther  on,  a  village  of  Iroquois, 
whom  he  had  persuaded  to  settle  here.  Near  these 
villages  were  the  house  and  chapel  of  two  RdcoUet 
friars,  Luc  Buisset  and  Louis  Hennepin.  More  than 
a  hundred  French  acres  of  land  had  been  cleared  of 
wood,  and  planted  in  part  with  crops ;  while  cattle, 
fowls,  and  swine  had  been  brought  up  from  Montreal. 
Four  vessels,  of  from  twenty-five  to  forty  tons,  had 
been  built  for  the  lake  and  the  river;  but  canoes 
served  best  for  ordinary  uses,  and  La  Salle's  followers 
became  so  skilled  in  managing  them  that  they  were 
reputed  the  best  canoe-men  in  America.  Feudal  lord 
of  the  forests  around  him,  commander  of  a  garrison 
raised  and  paid  by  himself,  founder  of  the  mission, 
and  patron  of  the  church,  he  reigned  the  autocrat  of 
his  lonely  little  empire.^ 

1  £tat  de  la  depense  faite  par  M''-  de  la  Salle,  Gouverneur  du  Fort 
Frontenac.  Recit  de  Nicolas  de  la  Salle.  Reveue  faite  au  Fort  de 
Frontenac,  1677 ;  Afemoire  sur  le  Projet  du  Sieur  de  la  Salle  (Margry, 
i.  329).  Plan  of  Fort  Frontenac,  published  by  Faillon,  from  the 
original  sent  to  France  by  Denonville  in  1685.  Relation  des  Decou- 
vertes  du  ^Sieur  de  la  Salle.  When  Frontenac  was  at  the  fort  in  Sep- 
tember, 1677,  he  found  only  four  habitants.    It  appears,  by  the  Rela- 


122  THE  GRAND  ENTERPRISE.  [1677. 

It  was  not  solely  or  chiefly  for  commercial  gain 
that  La  Salle  had  established  Fort  Frontenac.  He 
regarded  it  as  a  first  step  towards  greater  things ;  and 
now,  at  length,  his  plans  were  ripe  and  his  time  was 
come.  In  the  autumn  of  1677  he  left  the  fort  in 
charge  of  his  lieutenant,  descended  the  St.  Lawrence 
to  Quebec,  and  sailed  for  France.  He  had  the 
patronage  of  Frontenac  and  the  help  of  strong  friends 
in  Paris.  It  is  said,  as  we  have  seen  already,  that 
his  enemies  denounced  him,  in  advance,  as  a  mad- 
man; but  a  memorial  of  his,  which  his  friends  laid 
before  the  minister  Colbert,  found  a  favorable  hear- 
ing. In  it  he  set  forth  his  plans,  or  a  portion  of 
them.  He  first  recounted  briefly  the  discoveries  he 
had  made,  and  then  described  the  country  he  had 
seen  south  and  west  of  the  great  lakes.  "  It  is  nearly 
all  so  beautiful  and  so  fertile ;  so  free  from  forests, 
and  so  full  of  meadows,  brooks,  and  rivers;  so 
abounding  in  fish,  game,  and  venison,  that  one  can 
find  there  in  plenty,  and  with  little  trouble,  all  that 
is  needful  for  the  support  of  flourishing  colonies. 
The  soil  will  produce  everything  that  is  raised 
in  France.  Flocks  and  herds  can  be  left  out  at 
pasture  all  winter;  and  there  are  even  native  wild 
cattle,  which,  instead  of  hair,  have  a  fine  wool 
that  may  answer  for  making  cloth  and  hats.  Their 
hides  are  better  than  those  of  France,    as  appears 

tion  des  Decouverte.a  du  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  that,  three  or  four  years 
later,  there  were  thirteen  or  fourteen  families.  La  Salle  spent 
34,426  francs  on  the  fort.    Memoire  au  Roy,  Papiers  de  Famille. 


1678.]  LA  SALLE'S  MEMORIAL.  123 

by  the  sample  which  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  has 
brought  with  him.  Hemp  and  cotton  grow  here 
naturally,  and  may  be  manufactured  with  good  re- 
sults ;  so  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  colonies  planted 
here  would  become  very  prosperous.  They  would 
be  increased  by  a  great  number  of  western  Indians, 
who  are  in  the  main  of  a  tractable  and  social  dispo- 
sition; and  as  they  have  the  use  neither  of  our 
weapons  nor  of  our  goods,  and  are  not  in  intercourse 
with  other  Europeans,  they  will  readily  adapt  them- 
selves to  us  and  imitate  our  way  of  life  as  soon  as 
they  taste  the  advantages  of  our  friendship  and  of 
the  commodities  we  bring  them,  insomuch  that  these 
countries  will  infallibly  furnish,  within  a  few  years, 
a  great  many  new  subjects  to  the  Church  and  the 
King. 

"  It  was  the  knowledge  of  these  things,  joined  to 
the  poverty  of  Canada,  its  dense  forests,  its  barren 
soil,  its  harsh  climate,  and  the  snow  that  covers  the 
ground  for  half  the  year,  that  led  the  Sieur  de  la 
Salle  to  undertake  the  planting  of  colonies  in  these 
beautiful  countries  of  the  West." 

Then  he  recounts  the  difficulties  of  the  attempt,  — 
the  vast  distances,  the  rapids  and  cataracts  that 
obstruct  the  way;  the  cost  of  men,  provisions,  and 
munitions;  the  danger  from  the  Iroquois,  and  the 
rivalry  of  the  English,  who  covet  the  western 
country,  and  would  gladly  seize  it  for  themselves. 
"But  this  last  reason,"  says  the  memorial,  "only 
animates  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  the  more,  and  impels 


124  THE  GRAND  ENTERPRISE.  [1678. 

liim  to  anticipate  them  by  the  promptness  of  his 
action." 

He  declares  that  it  was  for  this  that  he  had  asked 
for  the  grant  of  Fort  Frontenac;  and  he  describes 
what  he  had  done  at  that  post,  in  order  to  make  it  a 
secure  basis  for  his  enterprise.  He  says  that  he  has 
now  overcome  the  chief  difficulties  in  his  way,  and 
that  he  is  ready  to  plant  a  new  colony  at  the  outlet 
of  Lake  Erie,  of  which  the  English,  if  not  prevented, 
might  easily  take  possession.  Towards  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  plans,  he  asks  the  confirmation  of 
his  title  to  Fort  Frontenac,  and  the  permission  to 
establish  at  his  own  cost  two  other  posts,  with  sei- 
gniorial rights  over  all  lands  which  he  may  discover 
and  colonize  within  twenty  years,  and  the  govern- 
ment of  all  the  country  in  question.  On  his  part, 
he  proposes  to  renounce  all  share  in  the  trade  carried 
on  between  the  tribes  of  the  Upper  Lakes  and  the 
people  of  Canada. 

La  Salle  seems  to  have  had  an  interview  with  the 
minister,  in  which  the  proposals  of  his  memorial  were 
somewhat  modified.  He  soon  received  in  reply  the 
following  patent  from  the  King :  — 

"  Louis,  by  the  grace  of  God  King  of  France  and 
Navarre,  to  our  dear  and  well-beloved  Robert 
Cavelier,  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  greeting.  We  have 
received  with  favor  the  very  humble  petition  made 
us  in  your  name,  to  permit  you  to  labor  at  the  dis- 
covery of  the  western  parts  of  New  France ;  and  we 
have   the  more  willingly  entertained  this  proposal, 


1678.]  THE  KING'S  APPROVAL.  125 

since  we  have  nothing  more  at  heart  than  the  explora- 
tion of  this  country,  through  which,  to  all  appear- 
ance, a  way  may  be  found  to  Mexico.  .  .  .  For  this 
and  other  causes  thereunto  moving  us,  we  permit 
you  by  these  presents,  signed  with  our  hand,  to  labor 
at  the  discovery  of  the  western  parts  of  our  aforesaid 
country  of  New  France;  and,  for  the  execution  of 
this  enterprise,  to  build  forts  at  such  places  as  you 
may  think  necessary,  and  enjoy  possession  thereof 
under  the  same  clauses  and  conditions  as  of  Fort 
Frontenac,  conformably  to  our  letters  patent  of  May 
thirteenth,  1675,  which,  so  far  as  needful,  we  con- 
firm by  these  presents.  And  it  is  our  will  that  they 
be  executed  according  to  their  form  and  tenor:  on 
condition,  nevertheless,  that  you  finish  this  enterprise 
within  five  years,  failing  which,  these  presents  shall 
be  void,  and  of  no  effect ;  that  you  carry  on  no  trade 
with  the  savages  called  Ottawas,  or  with  other  tribes 
who  bring  their  peltries  to  Montreal ;  and  that  you  do 
the  whole  at  your  own  cost  and  that  of  your  asso- 
ciates, to  whom  we  have  granted  the  sole  right  of 
trade  in  buffalo-hides.  And  we  direct  the  Sieur 
Count  Frontenac,  our  governor  and  lieutenant- 
general,  and  also  Duchesneau,  intendant  of  justice, 
police,  and  finance,  and  the  officers  of  the  supreme 
council  of  the  aforesaid  country,  to  see  to  the  execu- 
tion of  these  presents ;  for  such  is  our  pleasure. 

"Given  at  St.  Germain  en  Laye,  this  12th  day  of 
May,  1678,  and  of  our  reign  the  35th  year." 

This  patent  grants  both  more  and  less  than  the 


126  THE  GRAND  ENTERPRISE.  [1678. 

memorial  had  asked.  It  authorizes  La  Salle  to  build 
and  own,  not  two  forts  only,  but  as  many  as  he  may 
see  fit,  provided  that  he  do  so  within  five  years ;  and 
it  gives  him,  besides,  the  monopoly  of  buffalo-hides, 
for  which  at  first  he  had  not  petitioned.  Nothing  is 
said  of  colonies.  To  discover  the  country,  secure  it 
by  forts,  and  find,  if  possible,  a  way  to  Mexico,  are 
the  only  object  set  forth ;  for  Louis  XIV.  always  dis- 
countenanced settlement  in  the  West,  partly  as  tend- 
ing to  deplete  Canada,  and  partly  as  removing  his 
subjects  too  far  from  his  paternal  control.  It  was 
but  the  year  before  that  he  refused  to  Louis  Joliet 
the  permission  to  plant  a  trading  station  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi.  1  La  Salle,  however,  still  held  to 
his  plan  of  a  commercial  and  industrial  colony,  and 
in  connection  with  it  to  another  purpose,  of  which 
his  memorial  had  made  no  mention.  This  was  the 
building  of  a  vessel  on  some  branch  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, in  order  to  sail  down  that  river  to  its  mouth, 
and  open  a  route  to  commerce  through  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  It  is  evident  that  this  design  was  already 
formed;  for  he  had  no  sooner  received  his  patent, 
than  he  engaged  sliip-carpenters,  and  procured  iron, 
cordage,  and  anchors,  not  for  one  vessel,  but  for 
two. 

What  he  now  most  needed  was  money ;  and  hav- 
ing none  of  his  own,  he  set  himself  to  raising  it  from 
others.  A  notary  named  Simonnet  lent  him  four 
thousand  livres;  an  advocate  named  Raoul,  twenty- 

1  Colbert  a  Duchesneau,  28  Avril,  1677. 


1678.]  MONEY  AND  MEANS.  127 

four  thousand ;  and  one  Dumont,  six  thousand.  His 
cousin  Francois  Plet,  a  merchant  of  Rue  St.  Martin, 
lent  him  about  eleven  thousand,  at  the  interest  of 
forty  per  cent;  and  when  he  returned  to  Canada, 
Frontenac  found  means  to  procure  him  another  loan 
of  about  fourteen  thousand,  secui'ed  by  the  mortgage 
of  Fort  Frontenac.  But  his  chief  helpers  were  his 
family,  who  became  sharers  in  his  undertaking. 
"His  brothers  and  relations,"  says  a  memorial  after- 
wards addressed  by  them  to  the  King,  "spared  noth- 
ing to  enable  him  to  respond  worthily  to  the  royal 
goodness ; "  and  the  document  adds,  that,  before  his 
allotted  five  years  were  ended,  his  discoveries  had 
cost  them  more  than  five  hundred  thousand  livres 
(francs).^  La  Salle  liimself  believed,  and  made 
others  believe,  that  there  was  more  profit  than  risk 
in  his  schemes. 

Lodged  rather  obscurely  in  Rue  de  la  Truanderie, 
and  of  a  nature  reserved  and  shy,  he  nevertheless 
found  countenance  and  support  from  personages  no 
less  exalted  than  Colbert,  Seignelay,  and  the  Prince 
de  Conti.  Others,  too,  in  stations  less  conspicuous, 
warmly  espoused  his  cause,  and  none  more  so  than 
the  learned  Abbd  Renaudot,  who  helped  him  with 
tongue  and  pen,  and  seems  to  have  been  instrumental 
in  introducing  to  him  a  man  who  afterwards  proved 
invaluable.     This  was   Henri  de  Tonty,   an  Italian 

1  Memoire  au  Roy,  presente  sous  la  Regence ;  Obligation  du  Sieur  de 
la  Salle  envers  le  Sieur  Plet;  Autres  Emprunts  de  Cavelier  de  la  Salle 
(Margry,  i.  423-432). 


128  THE  GRAND  ENTERPRISE.  [1678. 

ojfficer,  a  protegS  of  the  Prince  de  Conti,  who  sent 
him  to  La  Salle  as  a  person  suited  to  his  purposes. 
Tonty  had  but  one  hand,  the  other  having  been 
blown  off  by  a  grenade  in  the  Sicilian  wars.^  His 
father,  who  had  been  governor  of  Gaeta,  but  who 
had  come  to  France  in  consequence  of  political  dis- 
turbances in  Naples,  had  earned  no  small  reputation 
as  a  financier,  and  had  invented  the  form  of  life 
insurance  still  called  the  Tontine.  La  Salle  learned 
to  know  his  new  lieutenant  on  the  voyage  across  the 
Atlantic ;  and,  soon  after  reacliing  Canada,  he  wrote 
of  him  to  his  patron  in  the  following  terms:  "His 
honorable  character  and  his  amiable  disposition  were 
well  known  to  you ;  but  perhaps  you  would  not  have 
thought  him  capable  of  doing  things  for  which  a 
strong  constitution,  an  acquaintance  with  the  country, 
and  the  use  of  both  hands  seemed  absolutely  neces- 
sary. Nevertheless,  his  energy  and  address  make 
him  equal  to  anything;  and  now,  at  a  season  when 
everybody  is  in  fear  of  the  ice,  he  is  setting  out  to 
begin  a  new  fort,  two  hundred  leagues  from  this 
place,  and  to  which  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  give 
the  name  of  Fort  Conti.  It  is  situated  near  that 
great  cataract,  more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty  toises 
in  height,  by  which  the  lakes  of  higher  elevation 
precipitate  themselves  into  Lake  Frontenac  [Ontario]. 
From  there  one  goes  by  water,  five  hundred  leagues, 
to  the  place  where  Fort  Dauphin  is  to  be  begun; 
from  which  it  only  remains   to  descend   the   great 

^  Tonty,  Memoire,  in  Margry,  Relations  et  Memoires  inedits,  5. 


1678.]  RETURN  TO  CANADA.  129 

river  of  the  Bay  of  St.  Esprit,  to  reach  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico."! 

Besides  Tonty,  La  Salle  found  in  France  another 
ally,  La  Motte  de  Lussiere,  to  whom  he  offered  a 
share  in  the  enterprise,  and  who  joined  him  at 
Rochelle,  the  place  of  embarkation.  Here  vexatious 
delays  occurred.  Bellinzani,  director  of  trade,  who 
had  formerly  taken  lessons  in  rascality  in  the  service 
of  Cardinal  Mazarin,  abused  his  official  position  to 
throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  La  Salle,  in  order  to 
extort  money  from  him;  and  he  extorted,  in  fact, 
a  considerable  sum,  which  his  victim  afterwards 
reclaimed.  It  was  not  till  the  fourteenth  of  July 
that  La  Salle,  with  Tonty,  La  Motte,  and  thirty 
men,  set  sail  for  Canada,  and  two  months  more 
elapsed  before  he  reached  Quebec.  Here,  to  increase 
his  resources  and  strengthen  his  position,  he  seems 
to  have  made  a  league  with  several  Canadian  mer- 

1  Lettre  de  La  Salle,  31  Oct.,  1678.  Fort  Coiiti  was  to  have  been 
built  on  the  site  of  the  present  Fort  Niagara.  The  name  of  Lac  de 
Conti  was  given  by  La  Salle  to  Lake  Erie.  The  fort  mentioned  as 
Fort  Dauphin  was  built,  as  we  shall  see,  on  the  Illinois,  though 
under  another  name.  La  Salle,  deceived  by  Spanish  maps,  thought 
that  the  Mississippi  discharged  itself  into  the  Bay  of  St.  Esprit 
(Mobile  Bay). 

Henri  de  Tonty  signed  his  name  in  the  Gallicized,  and  not  in  the 
original  Italian  form  Tonti.  He  wore  a  hand  of  iron  or  some  otlier 
metal,  which  was  usually  covered  with  a  glove.  La  Pothcrie  says 
that  he  once  or  twice  used  it  to  good  purpose  when  tlie  Indians 
became  disorderly,  in  breaking  the  heads  of  the  most  contumacious 
or  knocking  out  their  teeth.  Not  knowing  at  the  time  the  secret  of 
the  unusual  eflBcacy  of  his  blows,  they  regarded  him  as  a  "  medi- 
cine "  of  the  first  order.  La  Potherie  erroneously  ascribes  the  loss 
of  his  hand  to  a  sabre-cut  received  in  a  sortie  at  Messina. 

VOL.  I.  —  9 


130  THE  GRAND  ENTERPRISE.  [1678. 

chants,  some  of  whom  had  before  been  his  enemies, 
and  were  to  be  so  again.  Here,  too,  he  found  Father 
Louis  Hennepin,  who  had  come  down  from  Fort 
Frontenac  to  meet  him.^ 

'  La  Motte  de  Lussiere  a  — ,  sans  date  ;  Memoire  de  la  Salle  sur  les 
Extorsions  commises  par  Bellinzani;  Societe  form€e  par  La  Salle; 
Relation  de  Henri  de  Tonty,  1684  (Margry,  i.  338,  673;  ii.  7,  25). 


CHAPTER  IX. 

1678-1679. 

LA  SALLE  AT  NLA.GAEA. 

Father  Louis  Hennepin:    his  Past  Life;    his  Character. — 
Embarkation.  —  Niagara  Falls.  —  Indian  Jealousy.  —  La 

MOTTE  AND   the    SeNECAS.  —  A    DISASTER.  —  La  SaLLE   AND  HIS 

Followers. 

Hennepin  was  all  eagerness  to  join  in  the  adven- 
ture ;  and,  to  his  great  satisfaction,  La  Salle  gave  liim 
a  letter  from  his  Provincial,  Father  Le  Fevre,  con- 
taining the  coveted  permission.  Whereupon,  to 
prepare  himself,  he  went  into  retreat  at  the  Rdcollet 
convent  of  Quebec,  where  he  remained  for  a  time  in 
such  prayer  and  meditation  as  liis  nature,  the  reverse 
of  spiritual,  would  permit.  Frontenac,  always  partial 
to  his  Order,  then  invited  him  to  dine  at  the  chateau ; 
and  having  visited  the  bishop  and  asked  his  bless- 
ing, he  went  down  to  the  Lower  Town  and  embarked. 
His  vessel  was  a  small  birch  canoe,  paddled  by  two 
men.  With  sandalled  feet,  a  coarse  gray  capote,  and 
peaked  hood,  the  cord  of  St.  Francis  about  his  waist, 
and  a  rosary  and  crucifix  hanging  at  his  side,  the 
father  set    forth  on  his    memorable    journey.     He 


132  LA  SALLE  AT   NIAGARA.  [1678. 

carried  with  him  the  furniture  of  a  portable  altar, 
which  in  time  of  need  he  could  strap  on  his  back  like 
a  knapsack. 

He  slowly  made  his  way  up  the  St.  Lawrence, 
stopping  here  and  there,  where  a  clearing  and  a  few 
log  houses  marked  the  feeble  beginning  of  a  parish 
and  a  seigniory.  The  settlers,  though  good  Catholics, 
were  too  few  and  too  poor  to  support  a  priest,  and 
hailed  the  arrival  of  the  friar  with  delight.  He  said 
mass,  exhorted  a  little,  as  was  his  custom,  and  on 
one  occasion  baptized  a  child.  At  length  he  reached 
Montreal,  where  the  enemies  of  the  enterprise  enticed 
away  his  two  canoe-men.  He  succeeded  in  finding 
two  others,  with  whom  he  continued  his  voyage, 
passed  the  rapids  of  the  upper  St.  Lawrence,  and 
reached  Fort  Frontenac  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night  of 
the  second  of  November,  where  his  brethren  of  the 
mission,  Ribourde  and  Buisset,  received  him  with 
open  arms.^  La  Motte,  with  most  of  the  men, 
appeared  on  the  eighth ;  but  La  Salle  and  Tonty  did 
not  arrive  till  more  than  a  month  later.  Meanwhile, 
in  pursuance  of  Ms  orders,  fifteen  men  set  out  in 
canoes  for  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Illinois,  to  trade 
with  the  Indians  and  collect  provisions,  while  La 
Motte  embarked  in  a  small  vessel  for  Niagara,  accom- 
panied by  Hennepin.^ 

*  Henne'pin,  Description  de  la  Loiiisiane  (1683),  19;  Ibid.,  Voyage 
Curieux  (1704),  66.    Kibourde  bad  lately  arrived. 

*  Lettre  de  La  Motte  de  la  Lussiere,  sans  date ;  Relation  de  Henri 
de  Tonty  €crite  de   Qu^ec,  le  14  Novembre,  1684  (Margry,  i.  573), 


Father  Hennepin  celebrating  Mass, 


1678.]  HENNEPIN.  133 

This  bold,  hardy,  and  adventurous  friar,  the  histo- 
rian of  the  expedition,  and  a  conspicuous  actor  in  it, 
has  unwittingly  painted  his  own  portrait  with  toler- 
able distinctness.  "I  always,"  he  says,  "felt  a 
strong  inclination  to  fly  from  the  world  and  live 
according  to  the  rules  of  a  pure  and  severe  virtue; 
and  it  was  with  this  view  that  I  entered  the  Order  of 
St.  Francis."^  He  then  speaks  of  his  zeal  for  the 
saving  of  souls,  but  admits  that  a  passion  for  travel 
and  a  burning  desire  to  visit  strange  lands  had  no 
small  part  in  his  inclination  for  the  missions. ^  Being 
in  a  convent  in  Artois,  his  Superior  sent  him  to 
Calais,  at  the  season  of  the  herring-fishery,  to  beg 
alms,  after  the  practice  of  the  Franciscans.  Here 
and  at  Dunkirk  he  made  friends  of  the  sailors,  and 
was  never  tired  of  their  stories.  So  insatiable,  indeed, 
was  his  appetite  for  them,  that  "often,"  he  says,  "I 
hid  myself  behind  tavern  doors  while  the  sailors  were 
telling  of  their  voyages.  The  tobacco  smoke  made 
me  very  sick  at  the  stomach ;  but,  notwithstanding, 
I  listened  attentively  to  all  they  said  about  their 
adventures  at  sea  and  their  travels  in  distant  countries. 
I  could  have  passed  whole  days  and  nights  in  this 
way  without  eating.  "^ 

He  presently  set  out  on  a  roving  mission  through 

This  paper,  apparently  addressed  to  Abbe  Renaudot,  is  entirely  dis- 
tinct from  Tonty's  memoir  of  1693,  addressed  to  the  minister 
Ponchartrain. 

1  Hennepin,  Nouvelle  D€couverte  (1697),  8. 

2  Ibid.,  Avant  Propos,  5. 

8  Ibid.,  Voyage  Curieux  (1704),  12. 


134  LA  SALLE  AT  NIAGARA.  [1678. 

Holland;  and  he  recounts  various  mishaps  which 
befell  him,  "in  consequence  of  my  zeal  in  laboring 
for  the  saving  of  souls."  "I  was  at  the  bloody  fight 
of  Seneff,"  he  pursues,  "where  so  many  perished  by 
fire  and  sword,  and  where  I  had  abundance  of  work 
in  comforting  and  consoling  the  poor  wounded 
soldiers.  After  undergoing  great  fatigues,  and  run- 
ning extreme  danger  in  the  sieges  of  towns,  in  the 
trenches,  and  in  battles,  where  I  exposed  myself 
freely  for  the  salvation  of  others  while  the  soldiers 
were  breathing  nothing  but  blood  and  carnage,  I 
found  myself  at  last  in  a  way  of  satisfying  my  old 
inclination  for  travel."^ 

He  got  leave  from  his  superiors  to  go  to  Canada, 
the  most  adventurous  of  all  the  missions,  and  accord- 
ingly sailed  in  1675,  in  the  sliip  which  carried  La 
Salle,  who  had  just  obtained  the  grant  of  Fort 
Frontenac.  In  the  course  of  the  voyage,  he  took  it 
upon  him  to  reprove  a  party  of  girls  who  were  amus- 
ing themselves  and  a  circle  of  officers  and  other 
passengers  by  dancing  on  deck.  La  Salle,  who  was 
among  the  spectators,  was  annoyed  at  Hennepin's 
interference,  and  told  him  that  he  was  behaving  like 
a  pedagogue.  The  friar  retorted,  by  alluding  — 
unconsciously,  as  he  says  —  to  the  circumstance  that 
La  Salle  was  once  a  pedagogue  himself,  having, 
according  to  Hennepin,  been  for  ten  or  twelve  years 
teacher  of  a  class  in  a  Jesuit  school.  La  Salle,  he 
adds,  turned  pale  with  rage,  and  never  forgave  him 

1  Hennepin,  Voyage  Curieux  (1704),  13. 


1677-78.]  HENNEPIN.  135 

to  his  dying  day,  but  always  maligned  and  persecuted 
him.i 

On  arriving  in  Canada,  he  was  sent  up  to  Fort 
Frontenac,  as  a  missionary.  That  wild  and  remote 
post  was  greatly  to  his  liking.  He  planted  a  gigantic 
cross,  superintended  the  building  of  a  chapel  for  him- 
self and  his  colleague  Buisset,  and  instructed  the 
Iroquois  colonists  of  the  place.  He  visited,  too,  the 
neighboring  Indian  settlements,  —  paddling  his  canoe 
in  summer,  when  the  lake  was  open,  and  journeying 
in  winter  on  snow-shoes,  with  a  blanket  slung  at  his 
back.  His  most  noteworthy  journey  was  one  which 
he  made  in  the  winter,  —  apparently  of  1677,  —  with 
a  soldier  of  the  fort.  They  crossed  the  eastern 
extremity  of  Lake  Ontario  on  snow-shoes,  and 
pushed  southward  through  the  forests,  towards 
Onondaga,  — stopping  at  evening  to  dig  away  the 
snow,  which  was  several  feet  deep,  and  collect  wood 
for  their  fire,  which  they  were  forced  to  replenish 
repeatedly  during  the  night,  to  keep  themselves  from 
freezing.  At  length,  they  reached  the  great  Onondaga 
town,  where  the  Indians  were  much  amazed  at  their 
hardihood.  Thence  they  proceeded  eastward  to  the 
Oneidas,  and  afterwards  to  the  Mohawks,  who 
regaled  them  with  small  frogs,  pounded  up  with  a 
porridge  of  Indian  corn.  Here  Hennepin  found  the 
Jesuit  Bruyas,  who  permitted  him  to  copy  a  diction- 

1  Ibid.,  Avis  au  Lecteur.  He  elsewhere  represents  himself  as  on 
excellent  terms  with  La  Salle ;  with  whom,  he  says,  he  used  to  read 
histories  of  travels  at  Fort  Frontenac,  after  which  they  discussed 
together  their  plans  of  discovery. 


136  LA  SALLE   AT   NIAGARA.  [1678. 

ary  of  the  Mohawk  language  ^  which  he  had  compiled ; 
and  here  he  presently  met  three  Dutchmen,  who 
urged  him  to  visit  the  neighboring  settlement  of 
Orange,  or  Albany,  —  an  invitation  which  he  seems 
to  have  declined.  ^ 

They  were  pleased  with  him,  he  says,  because  he 
spoke  Dutch.  Bidding  them  farewell,  he  tied  on  liis 
snow-shoes  again,  and  returned  with  his  companion 
to  Fort  Frontenac.  Thus  he  inured  liimself  to  the 
hardships  of  the  woods,  and  prepared  for  the  execu- 
tion of  the  grand  plan  of  discovery  which  he  calls  his 
own,  — "an  enterprise,"  to  borrow  his  own  words, 
"capable  of  terrifying  anybody  but  me."  ^  When  the 
later  editions  of  his  book  appeared,  doubts  had  been 
expressed  of  his  veracity.  "I  here  protest  to  you, 
before  God,"  he  writes,  addressing  the  reader,  "that 
my  narrative  is  faithful  and  sincere,  and  that  you 
may  believe  everything  related  in  it."^  And  yet,  as 
we  shall  see,  this  reverend  father  was  the  most 
impudent  of  liars;  and  the  narrative  of  which  he 
speaks  is  a  rare  monument  of  brazen  mendacity. 
Hennepin,  however,  had  seen  and  dared  much;  for 

1  This  was  the  Racines  Arjniercs  of  Bruyas.  It  was  published  by- 
Mr.  Shea  in  1862.  Hennepin  seems  to  have  studied  it  carefully ; 
for  on  several  occasions  he  makes  use  of  words  evidently  borrowed 
from  it,  putting  them  into  the  mouths  of  Indians  speaking  a  dialect 
different  from  that  of  the  Agniers,  or  Moliawks. 

2  Compare  Brodhead  in  Hist.  Mag.,  x.  268. 

'^  "  Une  enterprise  capable  d'^pouvanter  tout  autre  que  moi."  — 
Hennepin,  Voyage  Curieux,  Avant  Propos  (1704). 

*  "  Je  vous  proteste  ici  devant  Dieu,  que  ma  Relation  est  fidele  et 
sincere,"  etc.  —  Ibid.,  Avis  au  Lecteur. 


1678.]  HENNEPIN.  137 

among  his  many  failings  fear  had  no  part,  and  where 
his  vanity  or  his  spite  was  not  involved,  he  often 
told  the  truth.  His  books  have  their  value,  with  all 
their  enormous  fabrications.  ^ 

La  Motte  and  Hennepin,  with  sixteen  men,  went 
on  board  the  little  vessel  of  ten  tons,  which  lay  at 
Fort  Frontenac.  The  friar's  two  brethren,  Buisset 
and  Ribourde,  threw  their  arms  about  his  neck  as 
they  bade  him  farewell ;  while  his  Indian  proselytes, 
learning  whither  he  was  bound,  stood  with  their 
hands  pressed  upon  their  mouths,  in  amazement  at 
the  perils  which  awaited  their  ghostly  instructor. 
La  Salle,  with  the  rest  of  the  party,  was  to  follow  as 
soon  as  he  could  finish  his  preparations.  It  was  a 
boisterous  and  gusty  day,  the  eighteenth  of  November. 
The  sails  were  spread ;  the  shore  receded,  —  the  stone 
walls  of  the  fort,  the  huge  cross  that  the  friar  had 
reared,  the  wigwams,  the  settlers'  cabins,  the  group 
of  staring  Indians  on  the  strand.  The  lake  was 
rough;  and  the  men,  crowded  in  so  small  a  craft, 
grew  nervous  and  uneasy.  They  hugged  the  northern 
shore,  to  escape  the  fury  of  the  wind,  which  blew 
savagely  from  the  northeast;  wliile  the  long  gray 
sweep  of  naked  forests  on  their  right  betokened  that 
winter  was  fast  closing  in.  On  the  twenty-sixth, 
they  reached  the  neighborhood  of  the  Indian  town  of 

1  The  nature  of  these  fahrications  will  be  shown  hereafter. 
They  occur,  not  in  the  early  editions  of  Hennepin's  narrative,  which 
are  comparatively  truthful,  but  in  the  edition  of  1697  and  those 
which  followed.    La  Salle  was  dead  at  the  time  of  their  publication. 


138  LA  SALLE   AT  NIAGARA.  [1678. 

Taiaiagon,^  not  far  from  Toronto,  and  ran  their 
vessel,  for  safety,  into  the  mouth  of  a  river,  —  prob- 
ably the  Humber,  —  where  the  ice  closed  about  her, 
and  they  were  forced  to  cut  her  out  with  axes.  On 
the  fifth  of  December,  they  attempted  to  cross  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Niagara;  but  darkness  overtook  them, 
and  they  spent  a  comfortless  night,  tossing  on  the 
troubled  lake,  five  or  six  miles  from  shore.  In  the 
morning,  they  entered  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara,  and 
landed  on  the  point  at  its  eastern  side,  where  now 
stand  the  historic  ramparts  of  Fort  Niagara.  Here 
they  found  a  small  village  of  Senecas,  attracted 
hither  by  the  fisheries,  who  gazed  with  curious  eyes 
at  the  vessel,  and  listened  in  wonder  as  the  voyagers 
sang  Te  Deum  in  gratitude  for  their  safe  arrival. 

Hennepin,  with  several  others,  now  ascended  the 
river  in  a  canoe  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain  ridge  of 
Lewiston,  which,  stretching  on  the  right  hand  and 
on  the  left,  forms  the  acclivity  of  a  vast  plateau,  rent 
with  the  mighty  chasm,  along  which,  from  this  point 
to  the  cataract,  seven  miles  above,  rush,  with  the 
fury  of  an  Alpine  torrent,  the  gathered  waters  of 
foui'  inland  oceans.  To  urge  the  canoe  farther  was 
impossible.  He  landed,  with  his  companions,  on  the 
west  bank,  near  the  foot  of  that  part  of  the  ridge 
now  called  Queenstown  Heights,  climbed  the  steep 
ascent,  and  pushed  through  the  wintry  forest  on  a 

1  This  place  is  laid  down  on  a  manuscript  map  sent  to  France  by 
the  Intendant  Duchesneau,  and  now  preserved  in  the  Archives  de 
la  Marine,  and  also  on  several  other  contemporary  maps. 


1678.]  NIAGARA  FALLS.  139 

tour  of  exploration.  On  his  left  sank  the  cliffs,  the 
furious  river  raging  below;  till  at  length,  in  primeval 
solitudes  unprofaned  as  yet  by  the  pettiness  of  man, 
the  imperial  cataract  burst  upon  his  sight.  ^ 

The  explorers  passed  three  miles  beyond  it,  and 
encamped  for  the  night  on  the  banks  of  Chippewa 
Creek,  scraping  away  the  snow,  which  was  a  foot 
deep,  in  order  to  kindle  a  fire.  In  the  morning  they 
retraced  their  steps,  startling  a  number  of  deer  and 
wild  turkeys  on  their  way,  and  rejoined  their  com- 
panions at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

1  Hennepin's  account  of  the  falls  and  river  of  Niagara  —  espe- 
cially his  second  account,  on  his  return  from  the  West  —  is  very 
minute,  and  on  the  whole  very  accurate.  He  indulges  in  gross 
exaggeration  as  to  the  height  of  the  cataract,  which,  in  the  edition 
of  1683,  he  states  at  five  hundred  feet,  and  raises  to  six  hundred  in 
that  of  1697.  He  also  says  that  there  was  room  for  four  carriages 
to  pass  abreast  under  the  American  Fall  without  being  wet.  This 
is,  of  course,  an  exaggeration  at  the  best;  but  it  is  extremely 
probable  that  a  great  change  has  taken  place  since  his  time.  He 
speaks  of  a  small  lateral  fall  at  the  west  side  of  the  Horse  Shoe 
Fall  which  does  not  now  exist.  Table  Rock,  now  destroyed,  is  dis- 
tinctly figured  in  his  picture.  He  says  that  he  descended  the  cliffs 
on  the  west  side  to  the  foot  of  the  cataract,  but  that  no  human 
being  can  get  down  on  the  east  side. 

The  name  of  Niagara,  written  Onguiaahra  by  Lalemant  in  1641, 
and  Ongiara  by  Sanson,  on  his  map  of  1657,  is  used  by  Hennepin  in 
its  present  form.  His  description  of  the  falls  is  the  earliest  known 
to  exist.  They  are  clearly  indicated  on  the  map  of  Champlain, 
1632.  For  early  references  to  them,  see  "  The  Jesuits  in  North 
America,"  i.  235,  note.  A  brief  but  curious  notice  of  them  is  given 
by  Gendron,  Quelques  P articular itez  du  Pays  des  Hiirons,  1659.  The 
indefatigable  Dr.  O'Callaghan  has  discovered  thirty-nine  distinct 
forms  of  the  name  Niagara.  Index  to  Colonial  Documents  of  New 
York,  465.  It  is  of  Iroquois  origin,  and  in  the  Mohawk  dialect  is 
pronounced  Nyagarah. 


140  LA  SALLE   AT  NIAGARA.  [1678. 

La  Motte  now  began  the  building  of  a  fortified 
house,  some  two  leagues  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Niagara.^  Hot  water  was  used  to  soften  the  frozen 
ground;  but  frost  was  not  the  only  obstacle.  The 
Senecas  of  the  neighboring  village  betrayed  a  sullen 
jealousy  at  a  design  which,  indeed,  boded  them  no 
good.  Niagara  was  the  key  to  the  four  great  lakes 
above;  and  whoever  held  possession  of  it  could,  in 
no  small  measure,  control  the  fur-trade  of  the  interior. 
Occupied  by  the  French,  it  would  in  time  of  peace 
intercept  the  trade  which  the  Iroquois  carried  on 
between  the  western  Indians  and  the  Dutch  and 
English  at  Albany,  and  in  time  of  war  threaten  them 
with  serious  danger.  La  Motte  saw  the  necessity  of 
conciliating  these  formidable  neighbors,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, cajoling  them  to  give  their  consent  to  the  plan. 
La  Salle,  indeed,  had  instructed  him  to  that  effect. 
He  resolved  on  a  journey  to  the  great  village  of  the 
Senecas,  and  called  on  Hennepin,  who  was  busied  in 
building  a  bark  chapel  for  himself,  to  accompany 
him.  They  accordingly  set  out  with  several  men 
well  armed  and  equipped,  and  bearing  at  their  backs 
presents  of  very  considerable  value.  The  village 
was  beyond  the  Genesee,  southeast  of  the  site  of 
Rochester. 2  After  a  march  of  five  days,  they  reached 
it  on  the  last   day  of  December.     They  were   con- 

1  Tonty,  Relation,  1684  (Mar^ry,  i.  573). 

2  Near  the  town  of  Victor.  It  is  laid  down  on  the  map  of  Gali- 
ne'e,  and  other  unpublished  maps.  Compare  Marshall,  Historical 
Sketches  of  the  Niagara  Frontier,  14. 


First  Picture  of  Niagara,  i68^. 


1678.]  LA  MOTTE  AND  THE  SENEGAS.  141 

ducted  to  the  lodge  of  the  great  chief,  where  they 
were  beset  by  a  staring  crowd  of  women  and  children. 
Two  Jesuits,  Raffeix  and  Julien  Gamier,  were  in 
the  village;  and  their  presence  boded  no  good  for 
the  embassy.  La  Motte,  who  seems  to  have  had  little 
love  for  priests  of  any  kind,  was  greatly  annoyed  at 
seeing  them ;  and  when  the  chiefs  assembled  to  hear 
what  he  had  to  say,  he  insisted  that  the  two  fathers 
should  leave  the  council-house.  At  this,  Hennepin, 
out  of  respect  for  his  cloth,  thought  it  befitting  that 
he  should  retire  also.  The  chiefs,  forty-two  in 
number,  squatted  on  the  ground,  arrayed  in  cere- 
monial robes  of  beaver,  wolf,  or  black-squirrel  skin. 
"The  senators  of  Venice,"  writes  Hennepin,  "do 
not  look  more  grave  or  speak  more  deliberately  than 
the  counsellors  of  the  Iroquois."  La  Motte 's  inter- 
preter harangued  the  attentive  conclave,  placed  gift 
after  gift  at  their  feet,  —  coats,  scarlet  cloth,  hatchets, 
knives,  and  beads,  —  and  used  all  his  eloquence  to 
persuade  them  that  the  building  of  a  fort  on  the 
banks  of  the  Niagara,  and  a  vessel  on  Lake  Erie, 
were  measures  vital  to  their  interest.  They  gladly 
took  the  gifts,  but  answered  the  interpreter's  speech 
with  evasive  generalities;  and  having  been  enter- 
tained with  the  burning  of  an  Indian  prisoner,  the 
discomfited  embassy  returned,  half-famished,  to 
Niagara. 

Meanwhile,  La  Salle  and  Tonty  were  on  their  way 
from  Fort  Frontenac,  with  men  and  supplies,  to 
join  La  Motte  and  liis  advance   party.     They  were 


142  LA  SALLE   AT  NIAGARA.  [1679. 

in  a  small  vessel,  with  a  pilot  either  unskilful  or 
treacherous.  On  Christmas  eve,  he  was  near  wreck- 
ing them  off  the  Bay  of  Quints.  On  the  next  day 
they  crossed  to  the  mouth  of  the  Genesee;  and  La 
Salle,  after  some  delay,  proceeded  to  the  neighboring 
town  of  the  Senecas,  where  he  appears  to  have  arrived 
just  after  the  departure  of  La  Motte  and  Hennepin. 
He,  too,  called  them  to  a  council,  and  tried  to  soothe 
the  extreme  jealousy  with  which  they  regarded  his 
proceedings.  "I  told  them  my  plan,"  he  says,  "and 
gave  the  best  pretexts  I  could,  and  I  succeeded  in 
my  attempt.  "1  More  fortunate  than  La  Motte,  he 
persuaded  them  to  consent  to  his  carrying  arms  and 
ammunition  by  the  Niagara  portage,  building  a  vessel 
above  the  cataract,  and  establishing  a  fortified  ware- 
house at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

This  success  was  followed  by  a  calamity.  La  Salle 
had  gone  up  the  Niagara  to  find  a  suitable  place  for  a 
ship-yard,  when  he  learned  that  the  pilot  in  charge 
of  the  vessel  he  had  left  had  disobeyed  liis  orders, 
and  ended  by  wrecking  it  on  the  coast.  Little  was 
saved  except  the  anchors  and  cables  destined  for  the 
new  vessel  to  be  built  above  the  cataract.  This  loss 
threw  Mm  into  extreme  perplexity,  and,  as  Hennepin 
says,  "would  have  made  anybody  but  him  give  up 
the  enterprise.  "2    The  whole  party  were  now  gath- 

1  Lettre  de  La  Salle  a.  un  de  ses  associes  (Margry,  ii.  32). 

2  Description  de  la  Louisiane  (1683),  41.  It  is  characteristic  of 
Hennepin  that,  in  the  editions  of  his  book  published  after  La  Salle's 
death,  lie  substitutes,  for  "  anybody  but  him,"  "  anybody  but  those 
who  had  formed  so  generous  a  design,"  —  meaning  to  include  him- 


1679.]  JEALOUSIES.  143 

ered  at  the  palisaded  house  which  La  Motte  had 
built,  a  little  below  the  mountain  ridge  of  Lewiston. 
They  were  a  motley  crew  of  French,  Flemings,  and 
Italians,  all  mutually  jealous.  La  Salle's  enemies 
had  tampered  with  some  of  the  men;  and  none  of 
them  seemed  to  have  had  much  heart  for  the  enter- 
prise. The  fidelity  even  of  La  Motte  was  doubtful. 
"He  served  me  very  ill,"  says  La  Salle;  "and 
Messieurs  de  Tonty  and  de  la  Forest  knew  that  he 
did  his  best  to  debauch  all  my  men."i  His  health 
soon  failed  under  the  hardships  of  these  winter  jour- 
neyings,  and  he  returned  to  Fort  Frontenac,  half- 
bhnded  by  an  inflammation  of  the  eyes.^  La  Salle, 
seldom  happy  in  the  choice  of  subordinates,  had, 
perhaps,  in  all  his  company  but  one  man  whom  he 
could  fully  trust;  and  this  was  Tonty.  He  and 
Hennepin  were  on  indifferent  terms.  Men  thrown 
together  in  a  rugged  enterprise  like  this  quickly  learn 
to  know  each  other;  and  the  vain  and  assuming  friar 
was  not  likely  to  commend  himself  to  La  Salle's  brave 
and  loyal  lieutenant.  Hennepin  says  that  it  was  La 
Salle's  policy  to  govern  through  the  dissensions  of  his 
followers ;  and,  from  whatever  cause,  it  is  certain  that 
those  beneath  him  were  rarely  in  perfect  harmony. 

self,  though  he  lost  nothing  by  the  disaster,  and  had  not  formed 
the  design. 

On  these  incidents,  compare  the  two  narratives  of  Tonty,  of  1G84 
and  1693.  The  book  bearing  Tonty's  name  is  a  compilation  full  of 
errors.     He  disowned  its  authorship. 

1  Lettre  de  La  Salle,  22  Aout,  1682  (Margry,  ii.  212). 

2  Lettre  de  La  Motte,  sans  date 


CHAPTER  X. 

1679. 

THE  LAUNCH  OF  THE  "GRIFFIN." 

The  Niagara  Portage.  —  A  Vessel  on  the  Stocks.  —  Suffering 
AND  Discontent.  —  La  Salle's  Winter  Journey.  —  The  Ves- 
sel launched.  —  Fresh  Disasters. 

A  MORE  important  work  than  that  of  the  warehouse 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  was  now  to  be  begun. 
This  was  the  building  of  a  vessel  above  the  cataract. 
The  small  craft  which  had  brought  La  Motte  and 
Hennepin  with  their  advance  party  had  been  hauled 
to  the  foot  of  the  rapids  at  Lewiston,  and  drawn 
ashore  with  a  capstan,  to  save  her  from  the  drifting 
ice.  Her  lading  was  taken  out,  and  must  now  be 
carried  beyond  the  cataract  to  the  calm  water  above. 
The  distance  to  the  destined  point  was  at  least 
twelve  miles,  and  the  steep  heights  above  Lewiston 
must  first  be  climbed.  This  heavy  task  was  accom- 
plished on  the  twenty-second  of  January.  The  level 
of  the  plateau  was  reached,  and  the  file  of  burdened 
men,  some  thirty  in  number,  toiled  slowly  on  its  way 
over  the  snowy  plains  and  through  the  gloomy  forests 
of  spruce  and  naked  oak-trees;  while  Hennepin 
plodded  through  the  drifts  with   his  portable  altar 


1679.]  THE  NIAGARA  PORTAGE.  145 

lashed  fast  to  his  back.  They  came  at  last  to  the 
mouth  of  a  stream  wliich  entered  the  Niagara  two 
leagues  above  the  cataract,  and  which  was  undoubt- 
edly that  now  called  Cayuga  Creek.  ^ 

1  It  has  been  a  matter  of  debate  on  which  side  of  the  Niagara 
the  first  vessel  on  the  Upper  Lakes  was  built.  A  close  study  of 
Hennepin,  and  a  careful  examination  of  the  localities,  have  con- 
vinced me  that  the  spot  was  that  indicated  above.  Hennepin 
repeatedly  alludes  to  a  large  detached  rock,  rising  out  of  the  water 
at  the  foot  of  the  rapids  above  Lewiston,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river.  This  rock  may  still  be  seen  immediately  under  the  western 
end  of  the  Lewiston  suspension-bridge.  Persons  living  in  the  neigh- 
borhood remember  that  a  ferry-boat  used  to  pass  between  it  and 
the  cliffs  of  the  western  shore  ;  but  it  has  since  been  undermined  by 
the  current  and  has  inclined  in  that  direction,  so  that  a  considerable 
part  of  it  is  submerged,  while  the  gravel  and  earth  thrown  down 
from  the  cliff  during  the  building  of  the  bridge  has  filled  the  inter- 
vening channel.  Opposite  to  this  rock,  and  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river,  says  Hennepin,  are  three  mountains,  about  two  leagues  below 
the  cataract.  (Noiiveau  Voyage  (1704),  462,  406.)  To  these  "  three 
mountains,"  as  well  as  to  the  rock,  he  frequently  alludes.  They 
are  also  spoken  of  by  La  Hontan,  who  clearly  indicates  their  posi- 
tion. They  consist  in  the  three  successive  grades  of  the  acclivity : 
first,  that  which  rises  from  the  level  of  the  water,  forming  the  steep 
and  lofty  river-bank ;  next,  an  intermediate  ascent,  crowned  by  a 
sort  of  terrace,  where  the  tired  men  could  find  a  second  resting-place 
and  lay  down  their  burdens,  whence  a  third  effort  carried  them  with 
difficulty  to  the  level  top  of  the  plateau.  That  this  was  the  actual 
"  portage,"  or  carrying  place  of  tlie  travellers,  is  shown  by  Hennepin 
(1704),  114,  who  describes  the  carrying  of  anchors  and  other  heavy 
articles  up  these  heights  in  August,  1679.  La  Hontan  also  passed 
the  Falls  by  way  of  the  "  three  mountains  "  eight  years  later.  La 
Hontan  (1703),  106.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  portage  was  on  the 
east  side,  whence  it  would  be  safe  to  conclude  that  tlic  vessel  was 
built  on  the  same  side.  Hennepin  says  that  she  was  built  at  the 
mouth  of  a  stream  {riviere)  entering  the  Niagara  two  leagues  above 
the  Falls.  Excepting  one  or  two  small  brooks,  there  is  no  stream 
on  the  west  side  but  Chippewa  Creek,  which  Hennepin  had  visited 
and  correctly  placed  at  about  a  league  from  the  cataract.    His  dis- 

VOL.  I.  —  10 


146  THE  LAUNCH  OF  THE  "GRIFFIN."       [1679. 

Trees  were  felled,  the  place  cleared,  and  the 
master-carpenter  set  his  ship-builders  at  work.  Mean- 
while, two  Mohegan  hunters,  attached  to  the  party, 
made  bark  wigwams  to  lodge  the  men.  Hennepin 
had  his  chapel,  apparently  of  the  same  material, 
where  he  placed  his  altar,  and  on  Sundays  and  saints' 
days  said  mass,  preached,  and  exhorted;  while  some 
of  the  men,  who  knew  the  Gregorian  chant,  lent 
their  aid  at  the  service.  When  the  carpenters  were 
ready  to  lay  the  keel  of  the  vessel.  La  Salle  asked 
the  friar  to  drive  the  first  bolt;  "but  the  modesty  of 
my  religious  profession,"  he  says,  "compelled  me  to 
decline  this  honor." 

Fortunately,  it  was  the  hunting-season  of  the 
Iroquois,  and  most  of  the  Seneca  warriors  were  in 
the  forests  south  of  Lake  Erie ;  yet  enough  remained 
to  cause  serious  uneasiness.  They  loitered  sullenly 
about  the  place,  expressing  their  displeasure  at  the 
proceedings  of  the  French.     One  of  them,  pretending 

tances  on  the  Niagara  are  usually  correct.  On  the  east  side  there 
is  a  stream  which  perfectly  answers  the  conditions.  This  is  Cayuga 
Creek,  two  leagues  above  the  Falls.  Immediately  in  front  of  it  is 
an  island  about  a  mile  long,  separated  from  the  shore  by  a  narrow 
and  deep  arm  of  the  Niagara,  into  which  Cayuga  Creek  discharges 
itself.  The  place  is  so  obviously  suited  to  building  and  launching 
a  vessel,  that,  in  the  early  part  of  this  century,  the  government  of 
the  United  States  chose  it  for  the  construction  of  a  schooner  to 
carry  supplies  to  the  garrisons  of  the  Upper  Lakes.  The  neighbor- 
ing village  now  bears  the  name  of  La  Salle. 

In  examining  this  and  other  localities  on  the  Niagara,  I  have 
been  greatly  aided  by  my  friend  0.  H.  Marshall,  Esq.,  of  Buffalo, 
who  is  unrivalled  in  his  knowledge  of  the  history  and  traditions  of 
the  Niagara  frontier. 


1679.]  SUFFERING  AND  DISCONTENT.  147 

to  be  drunk,  attacked  the  blacksmith  and  tried  to 
kill  him ;  but  the  Frenchman,  brandishing  a  red-hot 
bar  of  iron,  held  him  at  bay  till  Hennepin  ran  to  the 
rescue,  when,  as  he  declares,  the  severity  of  his 
rebuke  caused  the  savage  to  desist.  ^  The  work  of 
the  ship-builders  advanced  rapidly;  and  when  the 
Indian  visitors  beheld  the  vast  ribs  of  the  wooden 
monster,  their  jealousy  was  redoubled.  A  squaw 
told  the  French  that  they  meant  to  burn  the  vessel  on 
the  stocks.  All  now  stood  anxiously  on  the  watch. 
Cold,  hunger,  and  discontent  found  imperfect  anti- 
dotes in  Tonty's  energy  and  Hennepin's  sermons. 

La  Salle  was  absent,  and  his  Heutenant  commanded 
in  his  place.  Hennepin  says  that  Tonty  was  jealous 
because  he,  the  friar,  kept  a  journal,  and  that  he 
was  forced  to  use  all  manner  of  just  precautions  to 
prevent  the  Italian  from  seizing  it.  The  men,  being 
half-starved,  in  consequence  of  the  loss  of  their  pro- 
visions on  Lake  Ontario,  were  restless  and  moody; 
and  their  discontent  was  fomented  by  one  of  their 
number,  who  had  very  probably  been  tampered  with 
by  La  Salle's   enemies. ^     The    Senecas   refused  to 

1  Hennepin  (1704),  97.  On  a  paper  drawn  up  at  the  instance  of 
the  Intendant  Duchesneau,  the  names  of  the  greater  number  of  La 
Salle's  men  are  preserved.  These  agree  with  those  given  by  Hen- 
nepin :  thus,  the  master-carpenter,  whom  he  calls  Maitre  Moyse, 
appears  as  Mo'ise  Hillaret ;  and  the  blacksmith,  whom  he  calls  La 
Forge,  is  mentioned  as  —  (illegible)  dit  la  Forge. 

2  "  This  bad  man,"  says  Hennepin,  "  would  infallibly  have  de- 
bauched our  workmen,  if  I  had  not  reassured  them  by  the  exhor- 
tations which  I  made  them  on  fete-days  and  Sundays,  after  divine 
service  "  (1704),  98. 


148  THE  LAUNCH   OF  THE   "GRIFFIN."      [1679. 

supply  them  with  corn,  and  the  frequent  exhortations 
of  the  RdcoUet  father  proved  an  insufficient  substi- 
tute. In  this  extremity,  the  two  Mohegans  did 
excellent  service,  —  bringing  deer  and  other  game, 
which  relieved  the  most  pressing  wants  of  the  party, 
and  went  far  to  restore  their  cheerfulness. 

La  Salle,  meanwhile,  had  gone  down  to  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  with  a  sergeant  and  a  number  of  men ; 
and  here,  on  the  high  point  of  land  where  Fort 
Niagara  now  stands,  he  marked  out  the  foundations 
of  two  blockhouses.^  Then,  leaving  his  men  to  build 
them,  he  set  out  on  foot  for  Fort  Frontenac,  where 
the  condition  of  his  affairs  demanded  his  presence, 
and  where  he  hoped  to  procure  supplies  to  replace 
those  lost  in  the  wreck  of  his  vessel.  It  was 
February,  and  the  distance  was  some  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  through  the  snow-encumbered  forests 
of  the  Iroquois  and  over  the  ice  of  Lake  Ontario. 
Two  men  attended  him,  and  a  dog  dragged  his  bag- 
gage on  a  sledge.  For  food,  they  had  only  a  bag  of 
parched  corn,  which  failed  them  two  days  before 
they  reached  the  fort;  and  they  made  the  rest  of  the 
journey  fasting. 

During  his  absence,  Tonty  finished  the  vessel, 
which   was   of  about   forty-five    tons'  burden. ^     As 

1  LeMre  de  La  Salle,  22  Aouf,  1G82  (Margry,  ii.  229) ;  Relation  de 
Tonty,  1684  (Ibid.,  i.  577).  He  called  this  new  post  Fort  Conti.  It 
was  burned  some  months  after,  by  the  carelessness  of  tlie  sergeant 
in  command,  and  was  the  first  of  a  succession  of  forts  on  this  his- 
toric spot. 

2  Hennepin   (1G83),  46.     In  the  edition  of  1697,  he  says  that  it 


1679.]  THE  SHIP  FINISHED.  149 

spring  opened,  she  was  ready  for  launching.  The 
friar  pronounced  his  blessing  on  her;  the  assembled 
company  sang  Te  Deum ;  cannon  were  fired ;  and 
French  and  Indians,  warmed  alike  by  a  generous 
gift  of  brandy,  shouted  and  yelped  in  chorus  as  she 
glided  into  the  Niagara.  Her  builders  towed  her 
out  and  anchored  her  in  the  stream,  safe  at  last  from 
incendiary  hands;  and  then,  swinging  their  ham- 
mocks under  her  deck,  slept  in  peace,  beyond  reach 
of  the  tomahawk.  The  Indians  gazed  on  her  with 
amazement.  Five  small  cannon  looked  out  from  her 
portholes ;  and  on  her  prow  was  carved  a  portentous 
monster,  the  Griffin,  whose  name  she  bore,  in  honor 
of  the  armorial  bearings  of  Frontenac.  La  Salle  had 
often  been  heard  to  say  that  he  would  make  the 
griffin  fly  above  the  crows,  or,  in  other  words,  make 
Frontenac  triumph  over  the  Jesuits. 

They  now  took  her  up  the  river,  and  made  her  fast 
below  the  swift  current  at  Black  Rock.  Here  they 
finished  her  equipment,  and  waited  for  La  Salle's 
return;  but  the  absent  commander  did  not  appear. 
The  spring  and  more  than  half  of  the  summer  had 
passed  before  they  saw  him  again.  At  length,  early 
in  August,  he  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara, 
bringing  three  more  friars ;  for,  though  no  friend  of 
the  Jesuits,  he  was  zealous  for  the  Faith,  and  was 
rarely  without  a  missionary  in  his  journejdngs.  liike 
Hennepin,  the  three  friars  were  all  Flemings.     One 

was  of  sixty  tons.    I  prefer  to  follow  the  earlier  and  more  trust- 
worthy narrative. 


150  THE  LAUNCH  OF  THE   "GRIFFIN."      [1679. 

of  them,  Melithon  Watteau,  was  to  remain  at  Niagara ; 

the  others,    Zenobe  Membrd  and  Gabriel  Ribourde, 

were  to  preach  the  Faith  among  the   tribes  of  the 

West.     Ribourde  was  a  hale  and  cheerful  old  man 

of  sixty-four.     He  went  four  times   up  and   down 

the  Lewiston  heights,  while  the  men  were  climbing 

the  steep  pathway  with  their  loads.     It  required  four 

of  them,  well  stimulated  with  brandy,   to  carry  up 

the  principal  anchor  destined  for  the  "Griffin." 

La  Salle  brought  a  tale  of  disaster.     His  enemies, 

bent  on  ruining  the  enterprise,  had  given  out  that  he 

was  embarked  on  a  harebrained  venture,  from  which 

he  would  never  return.     His  creditors,  excited  by 

rumors  set  afloat  to  that  end,  had  seized  on  all  his 

property  in  the  settled  parts  of  Canada,  though  his 

seigniory  of  Fort  Frontenac  alone  would  have  more 

than  sufficed  to  pay  all  his  debts.     There  was  no 

remedy.     To  defer  the  enterprise  would  have  been 

to  give  his  adversaries  the  triumph  that  they  sought; 

and  he  hardened  himself  against  the  blow  with  his 

usual  stoicism.  1 

1  La  Salle's  embarrassment  at  this  time  was  so  great  that  he  pur- 
posed to  send  Tonty  up  the  lakes  in  the  "  Griffin,"  while  he  went 
back  to  the  colony  to  look  after  his  affairs  ;  but  suspecting  that  the 
pilot,  who  had  already  wrecked  one  of  his  vessels,  was  in  the  pay 
of  his  enemies,  he  resolved  at  last  to  take  charge  of  the  expedition 
himself,  to  prevent  a  second  disaster.  (Lettre  de  La  Salle,  22  Aout, 
1G82  ;  Margry,  ii.  214.)  Among  the  creditors  who  bore  hard  upon 
him  were  Migeon,  Charon,  Giton,  and  Peloquin,  of  Montreal,  in 
whose  name  his  furs  at  Fort  Frontenac  had  been  seized.  The  intend- 
ant  also  placed  under  seal  all  his  furs  at  Quebec,  among  which  is 
Bet  down  the  not  very  precious  item  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-four 
skins  of  enfants  du  diable,  or  skunks. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

1679. 

LA  SALLE  ON  THE  UPPER  LAKES. 

The  Voyage   of  the   "  Gkiffin."  —  Deteoit.  —  A  Stokm.  —  St. 

IgNACE  OF   MiCHILIMACKINAC.  —  ElVALS   AND   ENEMIES.  —  LaKE 

Michigan.  —  Hardships.  —  A   Threatened  Fight.  —  Fort 
Miami.  —  Tonty's  Misfortunes.  —  Forebodings. 

The  "  Griffin "  had  lain  moored  by  the  shore,  so 
near  that  Hennepin  could  preach  on  Sundays  from 
the  deck  to  the  men  encamped  along  the  bank.  She 
was  now  forced  up  against  the  current  with  tow- 
ropes  and  sails,  till  she  reached  the  calm  entrance  of 
Lake  Erie.  On  the  seventh  of  August,  La  Salle  and 
his  followers  embarked,  sang  Te  Deum^  and  fired 
their  cannon.  A  fresh  breeze  sprang  up;  and  with 
swelling  canvas  the  "  Griffin "  ploughed  the  virgin 
waves  of  Lake  Erie,  where  sail  was  never  seen 
before.  For  three  days  they  held  their  course  over 
these  unknown  waters,  and  on  the  fourth  turned 
northward  into  the  Strait  of  Detroit.  Here,  on  the 
right  hand  and  on  the  left,  lay  verdant  prairies, 
dotted  with  groves  and  bordered  with  lofty  forests. 
They  saw  walnut,  chestnut,  and  wild  plum  trees, 
and  oaks  festooned  with  grape-vines ;  herds  of  deer, 


152         LA  SALLE  ON  THE  UPPER  LAKES.       [1679. 

and  flocks  of  swans  and  wild  turkeys.  The  bulwarks 
of  the  "Griffin"  were  plentifully  hung  with  game 
wliich  the  men  killed  on  shore,  and  among  the  rest 
with  a  number  of  bears,  much  commended  by 
Hennepin  for  their  want  of  ferocity  and  the  excel- 
lence of  their  flesh.  "Those,"  he  says,  "who  will 
one  day  have  the  happiness  to  possess  this  fertile  and 
pleasant  strait,  will  be  very  much  obliged  to  those 
who  have  shown  them  the  way."  They  crossed 
Lake  St.  Clair, ^  and  still  sailed  northward  against 
the  current,  till  now,  sparkling  in  the  sun,  Lake 
Huron  spread  before  them  like  a  sea. 

For  a  time  they  bore  on  prosperously.  Then  the 
wind  died  to  a  calm,  then  freshened  to  a  gale,  then 
rose  to  a  furious  tempest;  and  the  vessel  tossed 
wildly  among  the  short,  steep,  perilous  waves  of  the 
raging  lake.  Even  La  Salle  called  on  his  followers 
to  commend  themselves  to  Heaven.  All  fell  to  their 
prayers  but  the  godless  pilot,  who  was  loud  in  com- 
plaint against  his  commander  for  having  brought 
him,  after  the  honor  he  had  won  on  the  ocean,  to 
drown  at  last  ignominiously  in  fresh  water.  The 
rest  clamored  to  the  saints.  St.  Anthony  of  Padua 
was  promised  a  chapel  to  be  built  in  his  honor,  if  he 
would  but  save  them  from  their  jeopardy;  while  in 
the  same  breath  La  Salle  and  the  friars  declared  him 
patron  of  their  great  enterprise. ^     The  saint  heard 

1  They  named  it  Sainte  Claire,  of  which  the  present  name  is  a 
perversion. 

2  Hennepin  (1683),  58. 


1679.]  ST.  IGNACE.  153 

their  prayers.  The  obedient  winds  were  tamed;  and 
the  "  Griffin  "  plunged  on  her  way  through  foaming 
surges  that  still  grew  calmer  as  she  advanced.  Now 
the  sun  shone  forth  on  woody  islands,  Bois  Blanc 
and  Mackinaw  and  the  distant  Manitoulins,  —  on  the 
forest  wastes  of  Michigan  and  the  vast  blue  bosom  of 
the  angry  lake ;  and  now  her  port  was  won,  and  she 
found  her  rest  behind  the  point  of  St.  Ignace  of 
Michilimackinac,  floating  in  that  tranquil  cove  where 
crystal  waters  cover  but  cannot  hide  the  pebbly 
depths  beneath.  Before  her  rose  the  house  and 
chapel  of  the  Jesuits,  enclosed  with  palisades ;  on  the 
right,  the  Huron  village,  with  its  bark  cabins  and 
its  fence  of  tall  pickets;  on  the  left,  the  square 
compact  houses  of  the  French  traders;  and,  not  far 
off,  the  clustered  wigwams  of  an  Ottawa  village.^ 
Here  was  a  centre  of  the  Jesuit  missions,  and  a 
centre  of  the  Indian  trade;  and  here,  under  the 
shadow  of  the  cross,  was  much  sharp  practice  in  the 
service  of  Mammon.  Keen  traders,  with  or  without 
a  license,  and  lawless  coureurs  de  hois^  whom  a  few 
years  of  forest  life  had  weaned  from  civilization, 
made  St.  Ignace  their  resort;  and  here  there  were 
many  of  them  when  the  "  Griffin  "  came.  They  and 
their  employers  hated  and  feared  La  Salle,  who, 
sustained  as  he  was  by  the  governor,  might  set  at 
nought  the  prohibition  of  the  King,  debarring  him 
from  traffic  with  these  tribes.     Yet,  while   plotting 

1  There  is  a  rude  plan  of  the  establishment  in  La  Hontan,  though 
in  several  editions  its  value  is  destroyed  by  the  reversal  of  the  plate. 


154         LA  SALLE  ON  THE  UPPER  LAKES.       [1679. 

against  liim,  they  took  pains  to  allay  his  distrust  by 
a  show  of  welcome. 

The  "Griffin"  fired  her  cannon,  and  the  Indians 
yelped  in  wonder  and  amazement.  The  adventurers 
landed  in  state,  and  marched  under  arms  to  the  bark 
chapel  of  the  Ottawa  village,  where  they  heard 
mass.  La  Salle  knelt  before  the  altar,  in  a  mantle 
of  scarlet  bordered  with  gold.  Soldiers,  sailors,  and 
artisans  knelt  around  him,  —  black  Jesuits,  gray 
R^coUets,  swarthy  voyageurs^  and  painted  savages ;  a 
devout  but  motley  concourse. 

As  they  left  the  chapel,  the  Ottawa  chiefs  came  to 
bid  them  welcome,  and  the  Hurons  saluted  them 
with  a  volley  of  musketry.  They  saw  the  "  Griffin  " 
at  her  anchorage,  surrounded  by  more  than  a  hundred 
bark  canoes,  like  a  Triton  among  minnows.  Yet  it 
was  with  more  wonder  than  good-will  that  the 
Indians  of  the  mission  gazed  on  the  "floating  fort," 
for  so  they  called  the  vessel.  A  deep  jealousy  of  La 
Salle's  designs  had  been  infused  into  them.  His 
own  followers,  too,  had  been  tampered  with.  In  the 
autumn  before,  it  may  be  remembered,  he  had  sent 
fifteen  men  up  the  lakes  to  trade  for  him,  with  orders 
to  go  thence  to  the  Illinois  and  make  preparation 
against  his  coming.  Early  in  the  summer,  Tonty 
had  been  despatched  in  a  canoe  from  Niagara  to  look 
after  them.^  It  was  high  time.  Most  of  the  men 
had  been  seduced  from  their  duty,  and  had  disobeyed 

*  Relation  de  Tonty,  1684 ;  Ibid.,  1693.  He  was  overtaken  at  the 
Detroit  by  the  "  Griflan." 


1679.]  RIVALS  AND  ENEMIES.  155 

their  orders,  squandered  the  goods  intrusted  to  them, 
or  used  them  in  trading  on  their  own  account.  La 
Salle  found  four  of  them  at  Michilimackinac.  These 
he  arrested,  and  sent  Tonty  to  the  Falls  of  Ste. 
Marie,  where  two  others  were  captured,  with  their 
plunder.  The  rest  were  in  the  woods,  and  it  was 
useless  to  pursue  them. 

Anxious  and  troubled  as  to  the  condition  of  his 
affairs  in  Canada,  La  Salle  had  meant,  after  seeing 
his  party  safe  at  Michilimackinac,  to  leave  Tonty  to 
conduct  it  to  the  Illinois,  while  he  himself  returned 
to  the  colony.  But  Tonty  was  still  at  Ste.  Marie, 
and  he  had  none  to  trust  but  himself.  Therefore, 
he  resolved  at  all  risks  to  remain  with  his  men; 
"for,"  he  says,  "I  judged  my  presence  absolutely 
necessary  to  retain  such  of  them  as  were  left  me,  and 
prevent  them  from  being  enticed  away  during  the 
winter."  Moreover,  he  thought  that  he  had  detected 
an  intrigue  of  his  enemies  to  hound  on  the  Iroquois 
against  the  Illinois,  in  order  to  defeat  his  plan  by 
involving  him  in  the  war. 

Early  in  September  he  set  sail  again,  and  passing 
westward  into  Lake  Michigan,  ^  cast  anchor  near  one 
of  the  islands  at  the  entrance  of  Green  Bay.  Here, 
for  once,  he  found  a  friend  in  the  person  of  a 
Pottawattamie  chief,  who  had  been  so  wrought  upon 

1  Then  usually  known  as  Lac  des  Illinois,  because  it  gave  access 
to  the  country  of  the  tribes  so  called.  Three  years  before,  AUouez 
gave  it  the  name  of  Lac  St.  Joseph,  by  which  it  is  often  designated 
by  the  early  writers.  Membre,  Douay,  and  others,  call  it  Lac 
Dauphin. 


156         LA  SALLE  ON  THE  UPPER  LAKES.       [1679. 

by  the  politic  kindness  of  Frontenac  that  he  declared 
himself  ready  to  die  for  the  childi*en  of  Onontio.^ 
Here,  too,  he  found  several  of  his  advance  party, 
who  had  remained  faithful  and  collected  a  large 
store  of  furs.  It  would  have  been  better  had  they 
proved  false,  like  the  rest.  La  Salle,  who  asked 
counsel  of  no  man,  resolved,  in  spite  of  his  followers, 
to  send  back  the  "  Griffin  "  laden  with  these  furs,  and 
others  collected  on  the  way,  to  satisfy  his  creditors. ^ 
It  was  a  rash  resolution,  for  it  involved  trusting  her 
to  the  pilot,  who  had  already  proved  either  incom- 
petent or  treacherous.  She  fired  a  parting  shot,  and 
on  the  eighteenth  of  September  set  sail  for  Niagara, 
with  orders  to  return  to  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan 
as  soon  as  she  had  discharged  her  cargo.  La  Salle, 
with  the  fourteen  men  who  remained,  in  four  canoes 
deeply  laden  with  a  forge,  tools,  merchandise,  and 
arms,  put  out  from  the  island  and  resumed  his 
voyage. 

The  parting  was  not  auspicious.  The  lake,  glassy 
and  calm  in  the  afternoon,  was  convulsed  at  night 
with  a  sudden  storm,  when  the  canoes  were  midway 
between  the  island  and  the  main  shore.  It  was  with 
difficulty  that  they  could  keep  together,    the   men 

1  "  The  Great  Mountain,"  the  Iroquois  name  for  the  governor  of 
Canada.    It  was  borrowed  by  other  tribes  also. 

2  In  the  license  of  discovery  granted  to  La  Salle,  he  is  expressly 
prohibited  from  trading  with  the  Ottawas  and  others  who  brought 
furs  to  Montreal.  This  traffic  on  the  lakes  was,  therefore,  illicit. 
His  enemy,  the  Intendant  Duchesnoau,  afterwards  used  this  against 
him.     Lettre  de  Duchesneau  au  Ministre,  10  Nov.,  1680. 


1679.]  POTTAWATTAMIES.  157 

shouting  to  each  other  through  the  darkness. 
Hennepin,  who  was  in  the  smallest  canoe  with  a 
heavy  load,  and  a  carpenter  for  a  companion  who 
was  awkward  at  the  paddle,  found  himself  in  jeop- 
ardy which  demanded  all  his  nerve.  The  voyagers 
thought  themselves  happy  when  they  gained  at  last 
the  shelter  of  a  little  sandy  cove,  where  they  dragged 
up  their  canoes,  and  made  their  cheerless  bivouac  in 
the  drenched  and  dripping  forest.  Here  they  spent 
five  days,  living  on  pumpkins  and  Indian  corn,  the 
gift  of  their  Pottawattamie  friends,  and  on  a  Canada 
porcupine  brought  in  by  La  Salle's  Mohegan  hunter. 
The  gale  raged  meanwhile  with  relentless  fury. 
They  trembled  when  they  thought  of  the  "Griffin." 
When  at  length  the  tempest  lulled,  they  re-embarked, 
and  steered  southward  along  the  shore  of  Wisconsin ; 
but  again  the  storm  fell  upon  them,  and  drove  them 
for  safety  to  a  bare,  rocky  islet.  Here  they  made  a 
fire  of  drift-wood,  crouched  around  it,  drew  their 
blankets  over  their  heads,  and  in  this  miserable 
plight,  pelted  with  sleet  and  rain,  remained  for  two 
days. 

At  length  they  were  afloat  again ;  but  their  pros- 
perity was  brief.  On  the  twenty-eighth,  a  fierce 
squall  drove  them  to  a  point  of  rocks  covered  with 
bushes,  where  they  consumed  the  little  that  remained 
of  their  provisions.  On  the  first  of  October  they 
paddled  about  thirty  miles,  without  food,  when  they 
came  to  a  village  of  Pottawattamies,  who  ran  down 
to  the  shore  to  help  them  to  land ;  but  La  Salle,  fear- 


158         LA  SALLE  ON  THE  UPPER  LAKES.       [1679. 

ing  that  some  of  his  men  would  steal  the  merchandise 
and  desert  to  the  Indians,  insisted  on  going  three 
leagues  farther,  to  the  great  indignation  of  his  fol- 
lowers. The  lake,  swept  by  an  easterly  gale,  was 
rolling  its  waves  against  the  beach,  like  the  ocean  in 
a  storm.  In  the  attempt  to  land,  La  Salle's  canoe 
was  nearly  swamped.  He  and  his  three  canoemen 
leaped  into  the  water,  and  in  spite  of  the  surf,  which 
nearly  drowned  them,  dragged  their  vessel  ashore 
with  all  its  load.  He  then  went  to  the  rescue  of 
Hennepin,  who  with  his  awkward  companion  was 
in  woful  need  of  succor.  Father  Gabriel,  with  his 
sixty-four  years,  was  no  match  for  the  surf  and  the 
violent  undertow.  Hennepin,  finding  himself  safe, 
waded  to  his  relief,  and  carried  him  ashore  on  his 
sturdy  shoulders;  while  the  old  friar,  though 
drenched  to  the  skin,  laughed  gayly  under  his  cowl 
as  his  brother  missionary  staggered  with  him  up  the 
beach.i 

When  all  were  safe  ashore.  La  Salle,  who  distrusted 
the  Indians  they  had  passed,  took  post  on  a  hill,  and 
ordered  his  followers  to  prepare  their  guns  for  action. 
Nevertheless,  as  they  were  starving,  an  effort  must 
be  risked  to  gain  a  supply  of  food ;  and  he  sent  three 
men  back  to  the  village  to  purchase  it.  Well  armed, 
but  faint  with  toil  and  famine,  they  made  their  way 
through  the  stormy  forest  bearing  a  pipe  of  peace, 
but  on  arriving  saw  that  the  scared  inhabitants  had 
fled.  They  found,  however,  a  stock  of  corn,  of 
1  Hennepin  (1683),  79. 


1679.]  HARDSHIPS.  159 

which  they  took  a  portion,  leaving  goods  in  exchange, 
and  then  set  out  on  their  return. 

Meanwhile,  about  twenty  of  the  warriors,  armed 
with  bows  and  arrows,  approached  the  camp  of  the 
French  to  reconnoitre.  La  Salle  went  to  meet  them 
with  some  of  his  men,  opened  a  parley  with  them, 
and  kept  them  seated  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  till  his 
three  messengers  returned,  when  on  seeing  the  peace- 
pipe  the  warriors  set  up  a  cry  of  joy.  In  the  morning 
they  brought  more  corn  to  the  camp,  with  a  supply 
of  fresh  venison,  not  a  little  cheering  to  the  exhausted 
Frenchmen,  who,  in  dread  of  treachery,  had  stood 
under  arms  all  night. 

This  was  no  journey  of  pleasure.  The  lake  was 
rufiQed  with  almost  ceaseless  storms ;  clouds  big  with 
rain  above,  a  turmoil  of  gray  and  gloomy  waves 
beneath.  Every  night  the  canoes  must  be  shouldered 
through  the  breakers  and  dragged  up  the  steep  banks, 
which,  as  they  neared  the  site  of  Milwaukee,  became 
almost  insurmountable.  The  men  paddled  all  day, 
with  no  other  food  than  a  handful  of  Indian  corn. 
They  were  spent  with  toil,  sick  with  the  haws  and 
wild  berries  which  they  ravenously  devoured,  and 
dejected  at  the  prospect  before  them.  Father  Gabriel's 
good  spirits  began  to  fail.  He  fainted  several  times 
from  famine  and  fatigue,  but  was  revived  by  a  certain 
"confection  of  Hyacinth  "  administered  by  Hennepin, 
who  had  a  small  box  of  this  precious  specific. 

At  length  they  descried  at  a  distance,  on  the 
stormy  shore,   two  or   three   eagles  among  a  busy 


160         LA  SALLE  ON  THE  UPPER  LAKES.       [1679. 

congregation  of  crows  or  turkey  buzzards.  They 
paddled  in  all  haste  to  the  spot.  The  feasters  took 
flight;  and  the  starved  travellers  found  the  mangled 
body  of  a  deer,  lately  killed  by  the  wolves.  This 
good  luck  proved  the  inauguration  of  plenty.  As 
they  approached  the  head  of  the  lake,  game  grew 
abundant;  and,  with  the  aid  of  the  Mohegan,  there 
was  no  lack  of  bear's  meat  and  venison.  They  found 
wild  grapes,  too,  in  the  woods,  and  gathered  them  by 
cutting  down  the  trees  to  which  the  vines  clung. 

While  thus  employed,  they  were  startled  by  a 
sight  often  so  fearful  in  the  waste  and  the  wilder- 
ness, —  the  print  of  a  human  foot.  It  was  clear  that 
Indians  were  not  far  off.  A  strict  watch  was  kept, 
not,  as  it  proved,  without  cause;  for  that  night, 
while  the  sentry  thought  of  little  but  screening  him- 
self and  his  gun  from  the  floods  of  rain,  a  party  of 
Outagamies  crept  under  the  bank,  where  they  lurked 
for  some  time  before  he  discovered  them.  Being 
challenged,  they  came  forward,  professing  great 
friendship,  and  pretending  to  have  mistaken  the 
French  for  Iroquois.  In  the  morning,  however, 
there  was  an  outcry  from  La  Salle's  servant,  who 
declared  that  the  visitors  had  stolen  his  coat  from 
under  the  inverted  canoe  where  he  had  placed  it; 
while  some  of  the  carpenters  also  complained  of  being 
robbed.  La  Salle  well  knew  that  if  the  theft  were 
left  unpunished,  worse  Avould  come  of  it.  First,  he 
posted  his  men  at  the  woody  point  of  a  peninsula, 
whose  sandy  neck  was  interposed  between  them  and 


1679.]  ENCOUNTER  WITH  INDIANS.  161 

the  main  forest.  Then  he  went  forth,  pistol  in  hand, 
met  a  young  Outagami,  seized  him,  and  led  him 
prisoner  to  his  camp.  This  done,  he  again  set  out, 
and  soon  found  an  Outagami  chief,  —  for  the  wig- 
wams were  not  far  distant,  —  to  whom  he  told  what 
he  had  done,  adding  that  unless  the  stolen  goods 
were  restored,  the  prisoner  should  be  killed.  The 
Indians  were  in  perplexity,  for  they  had  cut  the  coat 
to  pieces  and  divided  it.  In  this  dilemma  they 
resolved,  being  strong  in  numbers,  to  rescue  their 
comrade  by  force.  Accordingly,  they  came  down  to 
the  edge  of  the  forest,  or  posted  themselves  behind 
fallen  trees  on  the  banks,  while  La  Salle's  men  in 
their  stronghold  braced  their  nerves  for  the  fight. 
Here  three  Flemish  friars  with  their  rosaries,  and 
eleven  Frenchmen  with  their  guns,  confronted  a 
hundred  and  twenty  screeching  Outagamies.  Hen- 
nepin, who  had  seen  service,  and  who  had  always  an 
exhortation  at  his  tongue's  end,  busied  himself  to 
inspire  the  rest  with  a  courage  equal  to  his  own. 
Neither  party,  however,  had  an  appetite  for  the  fray. 
A  parley  ensued:  full  compensation  was  made  for 
the  stolen  goods,  and  the  aggrieved  Frenchmen  were 
farther  propitiated  with  a  gift  of  beaver-skins. 

Their  late  enemies,  now  become  friends,  spent  the 
next  day  in  dances,  feasts,  and  speeches.  They 
entreated  La  Salle  not  to  advance  farther,  since  the 
Illinois,  through  whoso  countiy  he  must  pass,  would 
be  sure  to  kill  him ;  for,  added  these  friendly  counsel- 
lors, they  hated  the  French  because  they  had  been 

VOL.    I.  —  11 


162         LA   SALLE  ON  THE  UPPER  LAKES.       [1679. 

instigating  the  Iroquois  to  invade  their  country. 
Here  was  another  subject  of  anxiety.  La  Salle  was 
confirmed  in  his  belief  that  his  busy  and  unscrupulous 
enemies  were  intriguing  for  his  destruction. 

He  pushed  on,  however,  circling  around  the 
southern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  till  he  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  called  by  him  the  Miamis. 
Here  Tonty  was  to  have  rejoined  him  with  twenty 
men,  making  his  way  from  Michilimackinac  along 
the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake ;  but  the  rendezvous  was 
a  solitude,  —  Tonty  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  It  was 
the  fii'st  of  November;  winter  was  at  hand,  and  the 
streams  would  soon  be  frozen.  The  men  clamored  to 
go  forward,  urging  that  they  should  starve  if  they 
could  not  reach  the  villages  of  the  Illinois  before  the 
tribe  scattered  for  the  winter  hunt.  La  Salle  was 
inexorable.  If  they  should  all  desert,  he  said,  he, 
with  his  Mohegan  hunter  and  the  three  friars,  would 
still  remain  and  wait  for  Tonty.  The  men  grumbled, 
but  obeyed;  and,  to  divert  their  thoughts,  he  set 
them  at  building  a  fort  of  timber  on  a  rising  ground 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

They  had  spent  twenty  days  at  this  task,  and  their 
work  was  well  advanced,  when  at  length  Tonty 
appeared.  He  brought  with  him  only  half  of  his 
men.  Provisions  had  failed;  and  the  rest  of  his 
party  had  been  left  thirty  leagues  behind,  to  sustain 
themselves  by  hunting.  La  Salle  told  him  to  return 
and  hasten  them  forward.  He  set  out  with  two 
men.     A  violent  north  wind  arose.     He  tried  to  run 


1679.]  FOREBODINGS.  163 

his  canoe  ashore  through  the  breakers.  The  two  men 
could  not  manage  their  vessel,  and  he  with  his  one 
hand  could  not  help  them.  She  swamped,  rolling 
over  in  the  surf.  Guns,  baggage,  and  provisions 
were  lost;  and  the  three  voyagers  returned  to  the 
Miamis,  subsisting  on  acorns  by  the  way.  Happily, 
the  men  left  behind,  excepting  two  deserters,  suc- 
ceeded, a  few  days  after,  in  rejoining  the  party.  ^ 

Thus  was  one  heavy  load  lifted  from  the  heart  of  La 
Salle.  But  where  was  the  "  Griffin"  ?  Time  enough, 
and  more  than  enough,  had  passed  for  her  voyage  to 
Niagara  and  back  again.  He  scanned  the  dreary 
horizon  with  an  anxious  eye.  No  returning  sail 
gladdened  the  watery  solitude,  and  a  dark  foreboding 
gathered  on  his  heart.  Yet  further  delay  was  impos- 
sible. He  sent  back  two  men  to  Michilimackinac  to 
meet  her,  if  she  still  existed,  and  pilot  her  to  his  new 
fort  of  the  Miamis,  and  then  prepared  to  ascend  the 
river,  whose  weedy  edges  were  already  glassed  with 
thin  flakes  of  ice.^ 

1  Hennepin  (1683),  112 ;  Relation  de  Tonty,  1693. 

2  The  official  account  of  this  journey  is  given  at  length  in  the 
Relation  des  Decouvertes  et  des  Voyages  du  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  1679-1681. 
This  valuable  document,  compiled  from  letters  and  diaries  of  La 
Salle,  early  in  the  year  1682,  was  known  to  Hennepin,  who  evidently 
had  a  copy  of  it  before  him  when  he  wrote  his  book,  in  which  he 
incorporated  many  passages  from  it. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

1679,  1680. 
LA  SALLE  ON  THE  ILLINOIS. 

The  St.  Joseph.  —  Adventure  of  La  Salle. — The  Prairies. — 
Famine. — The  Great  Town  of  the  Illinois.  —  Indians. — 
Intrigues.  —  Difficulties.  —  Policy  of  La  Salle.  —  Deser- 
tion. —  Another  Attempt  to  poison  La  Salle. 

On  the  third  of  December  the  party  re-embarked, 
thirty -three  in  all,  in  eight  canoes,  ^  and  ascended  the 
chill  current  of  the  St.  Joseph,  bordered  with  dreary 
meadows  and  bare  gray  forests.  When  they  approached 
the  site  of  the  present  village  of  South  Bend,  they 
looked  anxiously  along  the  shore  on  their  right  to 
find  the  portage  or  path  leading  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  Illinois.  The  Mohegan  was  absent,  hunting; 
and,  unaided  by  his  practised  eye,  they  passed  the 
path  without  seeing  it.  La  Salle  landed  to  search 
the  woods.  Hours  passed,  and  he  did  not  return. 
Hennepin  and  Tonty  grew  uneasy,  disembarked, 
bivouacked,  ordered  guns  to  be  fired,  and  sent  out 
men  to  scour  the  country.  Night  came,  but  not 
their  lost  leader.     Muffled   in   their    blankets    and 

1  Lettre  de  Duchesneau  h ,  10  Nov.,  1680. 


1679.]  LA  SALLE'S  ADVENTURE.  165 

powdered  by  the  thick-falling  snowflakes,  they  sat 
ruefully  speculating  as  to  what  had  befallen  him ;  nor 
was  it  till  four  o'clock  of  the  next  afternoon  that  they 
saw  him  approaching  along  the  margin  of  the  river. 
His  face  and  hands  were  besmirched  with  charcoal; 
and  he  was  further  decorated  with  two  opossums 
which  hung  from  his  belt,  and  which  he  had  killed 
with  a  stick  as  they  were  swinging  head  downwards 
from  the  bough  of  a  tree,  after  the  fashion  of  that 
singular  beast.  He  had  missed  his  way  in  the  forest, 
and  had  been  forced  to  make  a  wide  circuit  around 
the  edge  of  a  swamp ;  while  the  snow,  of  which  the 
air  was  full,  added  to  his  perplexities.  Thus  he 
pushed  on  through  the  rest  of  the  day  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  night,  till,  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, he  reached  the  river  again,  and  fired  his  gun  as 
a  signal  to  his  party.  Hearing  no  answering  shot, 
he  pursued  his  way  along  the  bank,  when  he  presently 
saw  the  gleam  of  a  fire  among  the  dense  thickets 
close  at  hand.  Not  doubting  that  he  had  found  the 
bivouac  of  his  party,  he  hastened  to  the  spot.  To 
his  surprise,  no  human  being  was  to  be  seen.  Under 
a  tree  beside  the  fire  was  a  heap  of  dry  grass  impressed 
with  the  form  of  a  man  who  must  have  fled  but  a 
moment  before,  for  his  couch  was  still  warm.  It  was 
no  doubt  an  Indian,  ambushed  on  the  bank,  watching 
to  kill  some  passing  enemy.  La  Salle  called  out  in 
several  Indian  languages ;  but  there  was  dead  silence 
all  around.  He  then,  with  admirable  coolness,  took 
possession  of  the  quarters  he  had  found,  shouting  to 


166  LA   SALLE   ON  THE  ILLINOIS.  [1679. 

their  invisible  proprietor  that  he  was  about  to  sleep 
in  his  bed;  piled  a  barricade  of  bushes  around  the 
spot,  rekindled  the  dying  fire,  warmed  his  benumbed 
hands,  stretched  himself  on  the  dried  grass,  and  slept 
undisturbed  till  morning. 

The  Mohegan  had  rejoined  the  party  before  La 
Salle's  return,  and  with  his  aid  the  portage  was  soon 
found.  Here  the  party  encamped.  La  Salle,  who 
was  excessively  fatigued,  occupied,  together  with 
Hennepin,  a  wigwam  covered  in  the  Indian  manner 
with  mats  of  reeds.  The  cold  forced  them  to  kindle 
a  fire,  which  before  daybreak  set  the  mats  in  a  blaze  ; 
and  the  two  sleepers  narrowly  escaped  being  burned 
along  with  their  hut. 

In  the  morning,  the  party  shouldered  their  canoes 
and  baggage  and  began  their  march  for  the  sources 
of  the  river  Illinois,  some  five  miles  distant.  Around 
them  stretched  a  desolate  plain,  half-covered  with 
snow  and  strewn  with  the  skulls  and  bones  of  buffalo ; 
while,  on  its  farthest  verge,  they  could  see  the  lodges 
of  the  Miami  Indians,  who  had  made  this  place  their 
abode.  As  they  filed  on  their  way,  a  man  named 
Duplessis,  bearing  a  grudge  against  La  Salle,  who 
walked  just  before  him,  raised  his  gun  to  shoot  him 
through  the  back,  but  was  prevented  by  one  of  his 
comrades.  They  soon  reached  a  spot  where  the  oozy, 
saturated  soil  quaked  beneath  their  tread.  All 
around  were  clumps  of  alder-bushes,  tufts  of  rank 
grass,  and  pools  of  glistening  water.  In  the  midst 
a  dark  and   lazy  current,  which  a  tall  man  might 


1679.]  THE  KANKAKEE.  167 

bestride,  crept  twisting  like  a  snake  among  tlie  weeds 
and  rushes.  Here  were  the  sources  of  the  Kankakee, 
one  of  the  heads  of  the  Illinois. ^  They  set  their 
canoes  on  this  thread  of  water,  embarked  their  bag- 
gage and  themselves,  and  pushed  down  the  sluggish 
streamlet,  looking,  at  a  little  distance,  like  men  who 
sailed  on  land.  Fed  by  an  unceasing  tribute  of  the 
spongy  soil,  it  quickly  widened  to  a  river;  and  they 
floated  on  their  way  through  a  voiceless,  lifeless 
solitude  of  dreary  oak  barrens,  or  boundless  marshes 
overgrown  with  reeds.  At  night,  they  built  their 
fire  on  ground  made  firm  by  frost,  and  bivouacked 
among  the  rushes.  A  few  days  brought  them  to  a 
more  favored  region.     On  the  right  hand  and  on  the 

1  The  Kankakee  was  called  at  this  time  the  Theakiki,  or  Haukiki 
(Marest) ;  a  name  which,  as  Charlevoix  says,  was  afterwards  cor- 
rupted by  the  French  to  Iviakiki,  whence,  probably,  its  present 
form.  In  La  Salle's  time,  the  name  "  Theakiki  "  was  gi  ren  to  the 
river  Illinois  through  all  its  course.  It  was  also  called  the  Riviere 
Seignelay,  the  Riviere  des  Macopins,  and  the  Rivifere  Divine,  or 
Riviere  de  la  Divine.  The  latter  name,  when  Charlevoix  visited 
the  country  in  1721,  was  confined  to  the  northern  branch.  He  gives 
an  interesting  and  somewhat  graphic  account  of  the  portage  and 
the  sources  of  the  Kankakee,  in  his  letter  dated  De  la  Source  da 
Theakiki,  ce  dix-sept  Septemhre,  1721. 

Why  the  Illinois  should  ever  have  been  called  the  "  Divine,"  it 
is  not  easy  to  see.  The  Memoirs  of  St.  Simon  suggest  an  explana- 
tion. Madame  de  Frontenac  and  her  friend  Mademoiselle  d'Outre- 
laise,  he  tells  us  lived  together  in  apartments  at  the  Arsenal,  where 
they  held  their  salon  and  exercised  a  great  power  in  society.  They 
were  called  at  court /es  i)iV«nes.  (St.  Simon,  v.  335:  Cheruel.)  In 
compliment  to  Frontenac,  the  river  may  have  been  named  after  his 
wife  or  her  friend.  The  suggestion  is  due  to  M.  Margry.  I  have 
seen  a  map  by  Raudin,  Frontenac's  engineer,  on  which  the  river  is 
called  "  Riviere  de  la  Divine  ou  I'Outrelaise." 


168  LA  SALLE  ON  THE  ILLINOIS.  [1679. 

left  stretched  the  boundless  prairie,  dotted  with 
leafless  groves  and  bordered  by  gray  wintry  forests, 
scorched  by  the  fires  kindled  in  the  dried  grass  by 
Indian  hunters,  and  strewn  with  the  carcasses  and 
the  bleached  skulls  of  innumerable  buffalo.  The 
plains  were  scored  with  their  pathways,  and  the 
muddy  edges  of  the  river  were  full  of  their  hoof- 
prints.  Yet  not  one  was  to  be  seen.  At  night,  the 
horizon  glowed  with  distant  fires;  and  by  day  the 
savage  hunters  could  be  descried  at  times  roaming 
on  the  verge  of  the  prairie.  The  men,  discontented 
and  half-starved,  would  have  deserted  to  them  had 
they  dared.  La  Salle's  Mohegan  could  kill  no  game 
except  two  lean  deer,  with  a  few  wild  geese  and 
swans.  At  length,  in  their  straits,  they  made  a 
happy  discovery.  It  was  a  buffalo  bull,  fast  mired 
in  a  slough.  They  killed  him,  lashed  a  cable  about 
him,  and  then  twelve  men  dragged  out  the  shaggy 
monster,  whose  ponderous  carcass  demanded  their 
utmost  efforts. 

The  scene  changed  again  as  they  descended.  On 
either  hand  ran  ranges  of  woody  hills,  following  the 
course  of  the  river ;  and  when  they  mounted  to  their 
tops,  they  saw  beyond  them  a  rolling  sea  of  dull  green 
prairie,  a  boundless  pasture  of  the  buffalo  and  the 
deer,  in  our  own  day  strangely  transformed,  —  yellow 
in  harvest-time  with  ripened  wheat,  and  dotted  with 
the  roofs  of  a  hardy  and  valiant  yeomanry.  ^ 

1  The  change  is  very  recent.  Within  the  memory  of  men  not 
yet  ohl,  wolves  and  deer,  besides  wild  swans,  wild  turkeys,  cranes, 


starved  Rock. 


1679.]  THE  ILLINOIS  TOWN.  169 

They  passed  the  site  of  the  future  town  of  Ottawa, 
and  saw  on  their  right  the  high  plateau  of  Buffalo 
Rock,  long  a  favorite  dwelling-place  of  Indians.  A 
league  below,  the  river  glided  among  islands  bordered 
with  stately  woods.  Close  on  their  left  towered  a 
lofty  cliff,  1  crested  with  trees  that  overhung  the 
ripj^ling  current;  while  before  them  spread  the  valley 
of  the  Illinois,  in  broad  low  meadows,  bordered  on  the 
right  by  the  graceful  hills  at  whose  foot  now  lies  the 
village  of  Utica.  A  population  far  more  numerous 
then  tenanted  the  valley.  Along  the  right  bank  of 
the  river  were  clustered  the  lodges  of  a  great  Indian 
town.  Hennepin  counted  four  hundred  and  sixty  of 
them.  2     In    shape,    they  were    somewhat    like    the 

and  pelicans,  abounded  in  this  region.  In  1840,  a  friend  of  mine 
shot  a  deer  from  the  window  of  a  farmhouse,  near  the  present  town 
of  La  Salle.  Kunning  wolves  on  horseback  was  his  favorite  amuse- 
ment in  this  part  of  the  country.  The  buffalo  long  ago  disappeared ; 
but  the  early  settlers  found  frequent  remains  of  them.  Mr.  James 
Clark,  of  Utica,  111.,  told  me  that  he  once  found  a  large  quantity  of 
their  bones  and  skulls  in  one  place,  as  if  a  herd  had  perished  in  the 
snowdrifts. 

1  "  Starved  Eock."  It  will  hold,  hereafter,  a  conspicuous  place 
in  the  narrative. 

2  La  Louisiane,  137.  Allouez  {Relation,  1673-79)  found  three 
hundred  and  fifty-one  lodges.  This  was  in  1677.  The  population 
of  this  town,  which  embraced  five  or  six  distinct  tribes  of  the  Illi- 
nois, was  continually  changing.  In  1675,  Marquette  addressed  here 
an  auditory  composed  of  five  hundred  chiefs  and  old  men,  and  fif- 
teen hundred  young  men,  besides  women  and  children.  He  estimates 
the  number  of  fires  at  five  or  six  hundred.  (  Voyages  du  Pere  Mar- 
quette, 98:  Lenox.)  Membre,  who  was  here  in  1680,  says  that  it 
then  contained  seven  or  eight  thousand  souls.  (Membre  in  Le 
Clerc,  Premier  Etablissement  de  la  Foj/,  ii.  173.)  On  the  remarkable 
manuscript  map  of  Franquelin,  1684,  it  is  set  down  at  twelve  hun- 


170  LA  SALLE   ON   THE  ILLINOIS.  [1679. 

arched  top  of  a  baggage-wagon.  They  were  built  of 
a  frame-work  of  poles,  covered  with  mats  of  rushes 
closely  interwoven ;  and  each  contained  three  or  four 
fires,  of  which  the  greater  part  served  for  two 
families. 

Here,  then,  was  the  town;  but  where  were  the 
inhabitants?  All  was  silent  as  the  desert.  The 
lodges  were  empty,  the  fires  dead,  and  the  ashes 
cold.  La  Salle  had  expected  this ;  for  he  knew  that 
in  the  autumn  the  Illinois  always  left  their  towns  for 
their  winter  hunting,  and  that  the  time  of  their 
return  had  not  yet  come.     Yet  he  was  not  the  less 

dred  warriors,  or  about  six  thousand  souls.  This  was  after  the 
destructive  inroad  of  the  Iroquois.  Some  years  later,  Rasle  reported 
upwards  of  twenty-four  hundred  families.  {Lettre  a  son  Frere,  in 
Lettres  Edijiantes.) 

At  times,  nearly  the  whole  Illinois  population  was  gathered 
here.  At  other  times,  the  several  tribes  that  composed  it  separated, 
some  dwelling  apart  from  the  rest ;  so  that  at  one  period  the  Illinois 
formed  eleven  villages,  while  at  others  they  were  gathered  into  two, 
of  which  this  was  much  the  larger.  The  meadows  around  it  were 
extensively  cultivated,  yielding  large  crops,  chiefly  of  Indian  corn. 
Tlie  lodges  were  built  along  the  river-bank  for  a  distance  of  a  mile, 
and  sometimes  far  more.  In  their  shape,  though  not  in  their  mate- 
rial, they  resembled  those  of  the  Hurons.  There  were  no  palisades 
or  embankments. 

Tliis  neighborhood  abounds  in  Indian  relics.  The  village  grave- 
yard appears  to  have  been  on  a  rising  ground,  near  the  river  imme- 
diately in  front  of  the  town  of  Utica.  This  is  the  only  part  of  the 
river  bottom,  from  this  point  to  the  Mississippi,  not  liable  to  inun- 
dation in  the  spring  floods.  It  now  forms  part  of  a  farm  occupied 
by  a  tenant  of  Mr.  James  Clark.  Both  Mr.  Clark  and  his  tenant 
informed  me  that  every  year  great  quantities  of  human  bones  and 
teetli  were  turned  up  here  by  the  plough.  Many  implements  of 
stone  are  also  found,  together  with  beads  and  other  ornaments  of 
Indian  and  European  fabric. 


1680.]  HUNGER  RELIEVED.  171 

embarrassed,  for  he  would  fain  have  bought  a  supply 
of  food  to  relieve  his  famished  followers.  Some  of 
them,  searching  the  deserted  town,  presently  found 
the  caches,  or  covered  pits,  in  which  the  Indians  hid 
their  stock  of  corn.  This  was  precious  beyond 
measure  in  their  eyes,  and  to  touch  it  would  be  a 
deep  offence.  La  Salle  shrank  from  provoking  their 
anger,  which  might  prove  the  ruin  of  his  plans;  but 
his  necessity  overcame  his  prudence,  and  he  took 
thirty  minots  of  corn,  hoping  to  appease  the  owners  by 
presents.  Thus  provided,  the  party  embarked  again, 
and  resumed  their  downward  voyage. 

On  New  Year's  Day,  1680,  they  landed  and  heard 
mass.  Then  Hennepin  wished  a  happy  new  year  to 
La  Salle  first,  and  afterwards  to  all  the  men,  making 
them  a  speech,  which,  as  he  tells  us,  was  "most 
touching."  1  He  and  his  two  brethren  next  embraced 
the  whole  company  in  turn,  "in  a  manner,"  writes 
the  father,  "most  tender  and  affectionate,"  exhorting 
them,  at  the  same  time,  to  patience,  faith,  and  con- 
stancy. Four  days  after  these  solemnities,  they 
reached  the  long  expansion  of  the  river  then  called 
Pimitoui,  and  now  known  as  Peoria  Lake,  and 
leisurely  made  their  way  downward  to  the  site  of  the 
city  of  Peoria. 2     Here,  as  evening  drew  near,  they 

^  "Les  paroles  les  plus  touchantes."  —  Hennepin  (1683),  139. 
The  later  editions  add  the  modest  qualification,  "que  je  pus." 

2  Peoria  was  the  name  of  one  of  the  tribes  of  the  Illinois.  Hen- 
nepin's dates  here  do  not  exactly  agree  with  those  of  La  Salle 
(Lettre  du  29  Sept.,  1680),  who  says  that  they  were  at  the  Illinois 
village  on  the  first  of  January,  and  at  Peoria  Lake  on  the  fifth. 


172  LA   SALLE  ON  THE  ILLINOIS.  [1680. 

saw  a  faint  spire  of  smoke  curling  above  the  gray 
forest,  betokening  that  Indians  were  at  hand.  La 
Salle,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  warned  that  these 
tribes  had  been  taught  to  regard  him  as  their  enemy; 
and  when,  in  the  morning,  he  resumed  his  course,  he 
was  prepared  alike  for  peace  or  war. 

The  shores  now  approached  each  other;  and  the 
Illinois  was  once  more  a  river,  bordered  on  either 
hand  with  overhanging  woods. ^ 

At  nine  o'clock,  doubling  a  point,  he  saw  about 
eighty  Illinois  wigwams,  on  both  sides  of  the  river. 
He  instantly  ordered  the  eight  canoes  to  be  ranged 
in  line,  abreast,  across  the  stream,  —  Tonty  on  the 
risrht,  and  he  himself  on  the  left.  The  men  laid 
down  their  paddles  and  seized  their  weapons ;  while, 
in  this  warlike  guise,  the  current  bore  them  swiftly 
into  the  midst  of  the  surprised  and  astounded  savages. 
The  camps  were  in  a  panic.  Warriors  whooped  and 
howled;  squaws  and  children  screeched  in  chorus. 
Some  snatched  their  bows  and  war-clubs;  some  ran 
in  terror;  and,  in  the  midst  of  the  hubbub.  La  Salle 
leaped  ashore,  followed  by  his  men.  None  knew 
better  how  to  deal  with  Indians;  and  he  made  no 
sign  of  friendship,  knowing  that  it  might  be  construed 
as  a  token  of  fear.  His  little  knot  of  Frenchmen 
stood,  gun  in  hand,  passive,  yet  prepared  for  battle. 

1  At  least,  it  is  so  now  at  this  place.  Perhaps,  in  La  Salle's  time, 
it  was  not  wholly  so  ;  for  there  is  evidence,  in  various  parts  of  the 
West,  that  the  forest  has  made  considerable  encroachments  on  the 
open  country. 


1680.]  ILLINOIS  HOSPITALITY.  173 

The  Indians,  on  their  part,  rallying  a  little  from  their 
fright,  made  all  haste  to  proffer  peace.  Two  of  their 
chiefs  came  forward,  holding  out  the  calumet;  while 
another  began  a  loud  harangue,  to  check  the  young 
warriors  who  were  aiming  their  arrows  from  the 
farther  bank.  La  Salle,  responding  to  these  friendly 
overtures,  displayed  another  calumet ;  while  Hennepin 
caught  several  scared  cliildren  and  soothed  them  with 
winning  blandishments. ^  The  uproar  was  quelled; 
and  the  strangers  were  presently  seated  in  the  midst 
of  the  camp,  beset  by  a  throng  of  wild  and  swarthy 
figures. 

Food  was  placed  before  them ;  and,  as  the  Illinois 
code  of  courtesy  enjoined,  their  entertainers  conveyed 
the  morsels  with  their  own  hands  to  the  lips  of  these 
unenviable  victims  of  their  hospitality,  while  others 
rubbed  their  feet  with  bear's  grease.  La  Salle,  on 
his  part,  made  them  a  gift  of  tobacco  and  hatchets ; 
and  when  he  had  escaped  from  their  caresses,  rose 
and  harangued  them.  He  told  them  that  he  had 
been  forced  to  take  corn  from  their  granaries,  lest  his 
men  should  die  of  hunger;  but  he  prayed  them  not 
to  be  offended,  promising  full  restitution  or  ample 
payment.  He  had  come,  he  said,  to  protect  them 
against  their  enemies,  and  teach  them  to  pray  to  the 
true  God.  As  for  the  Iroquois,  they  were  subjects 
of  the  Great  King,  and  therefore  brethren  of  the 
French;  yet,  nevertheless,  should  they  begin  a  war 
and  invade  the  country  of  the  Illinois,  he  would 
1  Hennepin  (1683),  112. 


174  LA  SALLE  ON  THE  ILLINOIS.  [1680. 

stand  by  them,  give  them  guns,  and  fight  in  their 
defence,  if  they  would  permit  him  to  build  a  fort 
among  them  for  the  security  of  his  men.  It  was 
also,  he  added,  his  purpose  to  build  a  great  wooden 
canoe,  in  which  to  descend  the  Mississippi  to  the  sea, 
and  then  return,  bringing  them  the  goods  of  which 
they  stood  in  need ;  but  if  they  would  not  consent  to 
his  plans  and  sell  provisions  to  his  men,  he  would 
pass  on  to  the  Osages,  who  would  then  reap  all  the 
benefits  of  intercourse  with  the  French,  while  they 
were  left  destitute,  at  the  mercy  of  the  Iroquois.^ 

This  threat  had  its  effect,  for  it  touched  their 
deep-rooted  jealousy  of  the  Osages.  They  were 
lavish  of  promises,  and  feasts  and  dances  consumed 
the  day.  Yet  La  Salle  soon  learned  that  the 
intrigues  of  his  enemies  were  still  pursuing  him. 
That  evening,  unknown  to  him,  a  stranger  appeared 
in  the  Illinois  camp.  He  was  a  Mascoutin  chief, 
named  Monso,  attended  by  five  or  six  Miamis,  and 
bringing  a  gift  of  knives,  hatchets,  and  kettles  to  the 
Illinois. 2  The  chiefs  assembled  in  a  secret  nocturnal 
session,  where,  smoking  their  pipes,  they  listened 
with  open  ears  to  the  harangue  of  the  envoys.  Monso 
told  them  that  he  had  come  in  behalf  of  certain 
Frenchmen,  whom  he  named,  to  warn  his  hearers 
against  the  designs  of  La  Salle,  whom  he  denounced 

^  Hennepin  (1683),  144-149.  The  later  editions  omit  a  part  of 
the  above. 

2  "  Un  sauvage,  nomm^  Monso,  qui  veut  dire  Chevreuil."  —  La 
Salle.  Probably  Monso  is  a  misprint  for  Mouso,  as  mousoa  is  Illi- 
nois for  chevreuil,  or  deer. 


1680.]  FRESH  INTRIGUES.  175 

as  a  partisan  and  spy  of  the  Iroquois,  affirming  that 
he  was  now  on  his  way  to  stir  up  the  tribes  beyond 
the  Mississippi  to  join  in  a  war  against  the  Illinois, 
who,  thus  assailed  from  the  east  and  from  the  west, 
would  be  utterly  destroyed.  There  was  no  hope  for 
them,  he  added,  but  in  checking  the  farther  progress 
of  La  Salle,  or,  at  least,  retarding  it,  thus  causing 
his  men  to  desert  him.  Having  thrown  his  firebrand, 
Monso  and  his  party  left  the  camp  in  haste,  dreading 
to  be  confronted  with  the  object  of  their  aspersions.^ 

In  the  morning.  La  Salle  saw  a  change  in  the 
behavior  of  his  hosts.  They  looked  on  him  askance, 
cold,  sullen,  and  suspicious.  There  was  one  Omawha, 
a  chief,  whose  favor  he  had  won  the  day  before  by 
the  politic  gift  of  two  hatchets  and  three  knives,  and 
who  now  came  to  him  in  secret  to  tell  him  what  had 
taken  place  at  the  nocturnal  council.  La  Salle  at 
once  saw  in  it  a  device  of  his  enemies;  and  this 
belief  was  confirmed,  when,  in  the  afternoon, 
Nicanope,  brother  of  the  head  chief,  sent  to  invite 
the  Frenchmen  to  a  feast.  They  repaired  to  his 
lodge ;  but  before  dinner  was  served,  —  that  is  to 
say,  while  the  guests,  white  and  red,  were  seated  on 

1  Hennepin  (1683),  151,  (1704),  205;  Le  Clerc,  ii,  157;  ^femoire 
clu  Voijage  de  M.  de  la  Salle.  This  is  a  paper  appended  to  Fronte- 
nac's  Letter  to  the  Minister,  9  Nov.,  1680.  Hennepin  prints  a  trans- 
lation of  it  in  the  English  edition  of  his  later  work.  It  cliarges  the 
Jesuit  AUouez  with  being  at  the  bottom  of  the  intrigue.  Compare 
Lettre  de  La  Salle,  29  Sept.,  1680  (Margry,  ii.  41),  and  Memoire  de 
La  Salle,  in  Thomassy,  Geologie  Pratique  de  la  Louisiane,  203. 

The  account  of  the  affair  of  Monso,  in  the  spurious  work  bear- 
ing Tonty's  name,  is  mere  romance. 


176  LA  SALLE  ON  THE  ILLINOIS.  [1680. 

mats,  each  with  his  hunting-knife  in  his  hand,  and 
the  wooden  bowl  before  him  which  was  to  receive  his 
share  of  the  bear's  or  buffalo's  meat,  or  the  corn 
boiled  in  fat,  with  which  he  was  to  be  regaled,  — 
while  such  was  the  posture  of  the  company,  their 
host  arose  and  began  a  long  speech.  He  told  the 
Frenchmen  that  he  had  invited  them  to  his  lodge 
less  to  refresh  their  bodies  with  good  cheer  than  to 
cure  their  minds  of  the  dangerous  purpose  which 
possessed  them,  of  descending  the  Mississippi.  Its 
shores,  he  said,  were  beset  by  savage  tribes,  against 
whose  numbers  and  ferocity  their  valor  would  avail 
nothing;  its  waters  were  infested  by  serpents,  alli- 
gators, and  unnatural  monsters;  while  the  river 
itself,  after  raging  among  rocks  and  whirlpools, 
plunged  headlong  at  last  into  a  fathomless  gulf, 
which  would  swallow  them  and  their  vessel  forever. 

La  Salle's  men  were  for  the  most  part  raw  hands, 
knowing  nothing  of  the  wilderness,  and  easily 
alarmed  at  its  dangers;  but  there  were  two  among 
them,  old  coureurs  de  hois,  who  unfortunately  knew 
too  much;  for  they  understood  the  Indian  orator, 
and  explained  his  speech  to  the  rest.  As  La  Salle 
looked  around  on  the  circle  of  his  followers,  he  read 
an  augury  of  fresh  trouble  in  their  disturbed  and 
rueful  visages.  He  waited  patiently,  however,  till 
the  speaker  had  ended,  and  then  answered  him, 
through  his  interpreter,  with  great  composure. 
First,  he  thanked  him  for  the  friendly  warning  which 
his  affection  had  impelled  him  to  utter;  but,  he  con- 


1680.]  LA   SALLE   AND  THE  INDIANS.  177 

tinued,  the  greater  the  clanger,  the  greater  the  honor ; 
and  even  if  the  danger  were  real,  Frenchmen  would 
never  flinch  from  it.  But  were  not  the  Illinois 
jealous  ?  Had  they  not  been  deluded  by  lies  ?  "  We 
were  not  asleep,  my  brother,  when  Monso  came  to 
tell  you,  under  cover  of  night,  that  we  were  spies  of 
the  Iroquois.  The  presents  he  gave  you,  that  you 
might  believe  his  falsehoods,  are  at  this  moment 
buried  in  the  earth  under  this  lodge.  If  he  told  the 
truth,  why  did  he  skulk  away  in  the  dark?  Why 
did  he  not  show  himself  by  day?  Do  you  not  see 
that  when  we  first  came  among  you,  and  your  camp 
was  all  in  confusion,  we  could  have  killed  you  with- 
out needing  help  from  the  Iroquois?  And  now, 
while  I  am  speaking,  could  we  not  put  your  old  men 
to  death,  while  your  young  warriors  are  all  gone 
away  to  hunt  ?  If  we  meant  to  make  war  on  you,  we 
should  need  no  help  from  the  Iroquois,  who  have  so 
often  felt  the  force  of  our  arms.  Look  at  what  we 
have  brought  you.  It  is  not  weapons  to  destroy  you, 
but  merchandise  and  tools  for  your  good.  If  you 
still  harbor  evil  thoughts  of  us,  be  frank  as  we  are, 
and  speak  them  boldly.  Go  after  this  impostor 
Monso,  and  bring  him  back,  that  we  may  answer 
him  face  to  face ;  for  he  never  saw  either  us  or  the 
Iroquois,  and  what  can  he  know  of  the  plots  that  he 
pretends   to   reveal? "^     Nicanope    had    nothing   to 

1  Tlie  above  is  a  paraphrase,  with  some  condensation,  from 
Hennepin,  whose  account  is  substantially  identical  with  that  of  La 
SaUe. 

VOL.   I. —  12 


178  LA  SALLE   ON  THE  ILLINOIS.  [1680. 

reply,  and,  grunting  assent  in  the  depths  of  his 
throat,  made  a  sign  that  the  feast  should  proceed. 

The  French  were  lodged  in  huts,  near  the  Indian 
camp;  and,  fearing  treachery.  La  Salle  placed  a 
guard  at  night.  On  the  morning  after  the  feast,  he 
came  out  into  the  frosty  air  and  looked  about  him  for 
the  sentinels.  Not  one  of  them  was  to  be  seen. 
Vexed  and  alarmed,  he  entered  hut  after  hut  and 
roused  his  drowsy  followers.  Six  of  the  number, 
including  two  of  the  best  carpenters,  were  nowhere 
to  be  found.  Discontented  and  mutinous  from  the 
first,  and  now  terrified  by  the  fictions  of  Nicanop^, 
they  had  deserted,  preferring  the  hardships  of  the 
midwinter  forest  to  the  mysterious  terrors  of  the 
Mississippi.  La  Salle  mustered  the  rest  before  him, 
and  inveighed  sternly  against  the  cowardice  and 
baseness  of  those  who  had  thus  abandoned  him, 
regardless  of  his  many  favors.  If  any  here,  he  added, 
are  afraid,  let  them  but  wait  till  the  spring,  and  they 
shall  have  free  leave  to  return  to  Canada,  safely  and 
without  dishonor.  1 

This  desertion  cut  him  to  the  heart.  It  showed 
him  that  he  was  leaning  on  a  broken  reed;  and  he 
felt  that,  on  an  enterprise  full  of  doubt  and  peril, 
there  were  scarcely  four  men  in  liis  party  whom  he 
could  trust.  Nor  was  desertion  the  worst  he  had  to 
fear;  for  here,  as  at  Fort  Froutenac,  an  attempt  was 
made  to  kill  him.     Tonty  tells  us  that  poison  was 

1  Hennepin  (1683),  162.  Declaration  faite  par  Moyse  Hillaret, 
charpentier  de  barque,  cy  devant  au  service  du  S''-  de  la  Salle. 


1680.]  LA  SALLE   AGAIN  POISONED.  179 

placed  in  the  pot  in  which  their  food  was  cooked, 
and  that  La  Salle  was  saved  by  an  antidote  which 
some  of  his  friends  had  given  him  before  he  left 
France.  This,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  an  epoch 
of  poisoners.  It  was  in  the  following  month  that  the 
notorious  La  Voisin  was  burned  alive,  at  Paris,  for 
practices  to  which  many  of  the  highest  nobility  were 
charged  with  being  privy,  not  excepting  some  in 
whose  veins  ran  the  blood  of  the  gorgeous  spendthrift 
who  ruled  the  destinies  of  France.  ^ 

In  these  early  French  enterprises  in  the  West,  it 
was  to  the  last  degree  difficult  to  hold  men  to  their 
duty.  Once  fairly  in  the  wilderness,  completely 
freed  from  the  sharp  restraints  of  authority  in  which 
they  had  passed  their  lives,  a  spirit  of  lawlessness 
broke  out  among  them  with  a  violence  proportioned 
to  the  pressure  which  had  hitherto  controlled  it. 
Discipline  had  no  resources  and  no  guarantee ;  while 
those  outlaws  of  the  forest,  the  coureurs  de  hois,  were 
always  before  their  eyes,  a  standing  example  of 
unbridled  license.  La  Salle,  eminently  skilful  in  his 
dealings  with  Indians,  was  rarely  so  happy  with  his 
own  countrymen;  and  yet  the  desertions  from  which 
he  was  continually  suffering  were  due  far  more  to 
the  inevitable  difficulty  of  his  position  than  to  any 
want  of  conduct  on  his  part. 

1  The  equally  noted  Brinvilliers  was  burned  four  years  before. 
An  account  of  both  will  be  found  in  the  Letters  of  Madame  de 
Sevigne.  The  memoirs  of  the  time  abound  in  evidence  of  the 
frightful  prevalence  of  these  practices,  and  the  commotion  which 
they  excited  in  all  ranks  of  society. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

1680. 

FOET  CRfcVECCEUR. 

Building  op  the  Fort.  —  Loss  of  the  "  Ghiffin."  —  A  Bold 
Resolution.  —  Another  Vessel.  —  Hennepin  sent  to  the 
Mississippi.  —  Departure  of  La  Salle, 

La  Salle  now  resolved  to  leave  the  Indian  camp, 
and  fortify  himself  for  the  winter  in  a  strong  position, 
where  his  men  would  be  less  exposed  to  dangerous 
influence,  and  where  he  could  hold  his  ground 
against  an  outbreak  of  the  Illinois  or  an  Iroquois 
invasion.  At  the  middle  of  January,  a  thaw  broke 
up  the  ice  which  had  closed  the  river ;  and  he  set  out 
in  a  canoe,  with  Hennepin,  to  visit  the  site  he  had 
chosen  for  his  projected  fort.  It  was  half  a  league 
below  the  camp,  on  a  low  hill  or  knoll,  two  hundred 
yards  from  the  southern  bank.  On  either  side  was  a 
deep  ravine,  and  in  front  a  marshy  tract,  overflowed 
at  high  water.  Thither,  then,  the  party  was  removed. 
They  dug  a  ditch  behind  the  hill,  connecting  the  two 
ravines,  and  thus  completely  isolating  it.  The  hill 
was  nearly  square  in  form.  An  embankment  of 
earth  was  thrown   up  on  every  side:  its   declivities 


1680.]  BUILDING  OP  THE  FORT.  181 

were  sloped  steeply  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  ravines 
and  the  ditch,  and  further  guarded  by  chevaux-dc- 
frise;  while  a  palisade,  twenty-five  feet  high,  was 
planted  around  the  whole.  The  lodgings  of  the 
men,  built  of  musket-proof  timber,  were  at  two  of 
the  angles ;  the  house  of  the  friars  at  the  third ;  the 
forge  and  magazine  at  the  fourth;  and  the  tents  of 
La  Salle  and  Tonty  in  the  area  within. 

Hennepin  laments  the  failure  of  wine,  which 
prevented  him  from  saying  mass ;  but  every  morning 
and  evening  he  summoned  the  men  to  his  cabin  to 
listen  to  prayers  and  preaching,  and  on  Sundays  and 
fgte-days  they  chanted  vespers.  Father  Zenobe 
usually  spent  the  day  in  the  Indian  camp,  striving, 
with  very  indifferent  success,  to  win  them  to  the 
Faith,  and  to  overcome  the  disgust  with  which  their 
manners  and  habits  inspired  him. 

Such  was  the  first  civilized  occupation  of  the  region 
which  now  forms  the  State  of  Illinois.  La  Salle 
christened  his  new  fort  Fort  Crevecoeur.  The  name 
tells  of  disaster  and  suffering,  but  does  no  justice  to 
the  iron-hearted  constancy  of  the  sufferer.  Up  to 
this  time  he  had  clung  to  the  hope  that  his  vessel, 
the  "Griffin,"  might  still  be  safe.  Her  safety  was 
vital  to  his  enterprise.  She  had  on  board  articles  of 
the  last  necessity  to  him,  including  the  rigging  and 
anchors  of  another  vessel  which  he  was  to  build  at 
Fort  Crevecoeur,  in  order  to  descend  the  Mississippi 
and  sail  thence  to  the  West  Indies.  But  now  his 
last  hope  had  well-nigh  vanished.     Past  all  reasonable 


182  FORT   CREVECCEUR.  [1680. 

doubt,  the  "  Griffin  "  was  lost;  and  in  her  loss  he  and 
all  his  plans  seemed  ruined  alike. 

Nothing,  indeed,  was  ever  heard  of  her.  Indians, 
fur-traders,  and  even  Jesuits,  have  been  charged 
with  contriving  her  destruction.  Some  say  that  the 
Ottawas  boarded  and  burned  her,  after  murdering 
those  on  board;  others  accuse  the  P Ottawa ttamies ; 
others  affirm  that  her  own  crew  scuttled  and  sunk 
her;  others,  again,  that  she  foundered  in  a  storm. ^ 
As  for  La  Salle,  the  belief  grew  in  him  to  a  settled 
conviction  that  she  had  been  treacherously  sunk  by 
the  pilot  and  the  sailors  to  whom  he  had  intrusted 
her;  and  he  thought  he  had  found  evidence  that  the 
authors  of  the  crime,  laden  with  the  merchandise 
they  had  taken  from  her,  had  reached  the  Mississippi 
and  ascended  it,  hoping  to  join  Du  Lhut,  a  famous 
chief  of  coureurs  de  hois,  and  enrich  themselves  by 
traffic  with  the  northern  tribes.  ^ 

1  Charlevoix,  i.  459 ;  La  Potherie,  ii.  140 ;  La  Hontan,  Memoir  on 
the  Fur-Trade  of  Canada.  I  am  indebted  for  a  copy  of  this  paper 
to  Winthrop  Sargent,  Esq.,  who  purchased  the  original  at  the  sale  of 
the  library  of  the  poet  Southey.  Like  Hennepin,  La  Hontan  went 
over  to  the  English  ;  and  this  memoir  is  written  in  their  interest. 

2  Lettre  de  La  Salle  a  La  Barre,  Chicagou,  4  Juin,  1683.  This  is  a 
long  letter,  addressed  to  the  successor  of  Frontenac  in  the  govern- 
ment of  Canada.  La  Salle  says  that  a  young  Indian  belonging  to 
him  told  iiim  that  three  years  before  he  saw  a  white  man,  answering 
the  description  of  the  pilot,  a  prisoner  among  a  tribe  beyond  the 
Mississippi.  He  had  been  captured  with  four  others  on  that  river, 
while  making  his  way  with  canoes,  laden  with  goods,  towards  the 
Sioux.  His  companions  had  been  killed.  Other  circumstances, 
which  La  Salle  details  at  great  length,  convinced  him  that  the  white 
prisoner  was  no  other  than  the  pilot  of  the  "  Griffin."  The  evi- 
dence, however,  is  not  conclusive. 


1680.]  LA  SALLE'S  ANXIETIES.  183 

But  whether  her  lading  was  swallowed  in  the 
depths  of  the  lake,  or  lost  in  the  clutches  of  traitors, 
the  evil  was  alike  past  remedy.  She  was  gone,  it 
mattered  little  how.  The  main-stay  of  the  enterprise 
was  broken ;  yet  its  inflexible  chief  lost  neither  heart 
nor  hope.  One  path,  beset  with  hardships  and 
terrors,  still  lay  open  to  him.  He  might  return  on 
foot  to  Fort  Frontenac,  and  bring  thence  the  needful 
succors. 

La  Salle  felt  deeply  the  dangers  of  such  a  step. 
His  men  were  uneasy,  discontented,  and  terrified  by 
the  stories  with  which  the  jealous  Illinois  still  con- 
stantly filled  their  ears,  of  the  wliirlpools  and  the 
monsters  of  the  Mississippi.  He  dreaded  lest,  in  his 
absence,  they  should  follow  the  example  of  their 
comrades,  and  desert.  In  the  midst  of  his  anxieties, 
a  lucky  accident  gave  him  the  means  of  disabusing 
them.  He  was  hunting,  one  day,  near  the  fort, 
when  he  met  a  young  Illinois  on  his  way  home,  half- 
starved,  from  a  distant  war  excursion.  He  had  been 
absent  so  long  that  he  knew  nothing  of  what  had 
passed  between  his  countrymen  and  the  French.  La 
Salle  gave  him  a  turkey  he  had  shot,  invited  him  to 
the  fort,  fed  him,  and  made  him  presents.  Having 
thus  warmed  his  heart,  he  questioned  him,  with 
apparent  carelessness,  as  to  the  countries  he  had 
visited,  and  especially  as  to  the  Mississippi,  —  on 
which  the  young  warrior,  seeing  no  reason  to  disguise 
the  truth,  gave  him  all  the  information  he  required. 
La  Salle  now  made  liim  the  present  of  a  hatchet,  to 


184  FORT  CR:feVEC(EUR.  [1680. 

engage  him  to  say  nothing  of  what  had  passed,  and, 
leaving  him  in  excellent  humor,  repaired,  with  some 
of  his  followers,  to  the  Illinois  camp.  Here  he  found 
the  chiefs  seated  at  a  feast  of  bear's  meat,  and  he 
took  his  place  among  them  on  a  mat  of  rushes.  After 
a  pause,  he  charged  them  with  having  deceived  him 
in  regard  to  the  Mississippi;  adding  that  he  knew 
the  river  perfectly,  having  been  instructed  concern- 
ing it  by  the  Master  of  Life.  He  then  described  it 
to  them  with  so  much  accuracy  that  his  astonished 
hearers,  conceiving  that  he  owed  his  knowledge  to 
"medicine,"  or  sorcery,  clapped  their  hands  to  their 
mouths  in  sign  of  wonder,  and  confessed  that  all 
they  had  said  was  but  an  artifice,  inspired  by  their 
earnest  desire  that  he  should  remain  among  them.^ 
On  tliis.  La  Salle's  men  took  heart  again;  and  their 
courage  rose  still  more  when,  soon  after,  a  band  of 
Chickasa,  Arkansas,  and  Osage  warriors,  from  the 
Mississippi,  came  to  the  camp  on  a  friendly  visit, 
and  assured  the  French  not  only  that  the  river  was 
navigable  to  the  sea,  but  that  the  tribes  along  its 
banks  would  give  them  a  warm  welcome. 

La  Salle  had  now  good  reason  to  hope  that  his 
followers  would  neither  mutiny  nor  desert  in  his 
absence.  One  chief  purpose  of  his  intended  journey 
was  to  procure  the  anchors,  cables,  and  rigging  of 

^  Relation  des  Decouvertes  et  des  Voyages  du  S''-  de  la  Salle,  Sei- 
gneur et  Gouverneur  du  Fort  de  Frontenac,  au  dela  des  grands  Lacs  de 
la  Nouvelle  France,  fails  par  ordre  de  Monseigneur  Colbert,  1679,  80 
ct  81.  Hennepin  gives  a  story  which  is  not  essentially  different, 
except  that  he  makes  liimself  a  conspicuous  actor  in  it. 


1680.]  ANOTHER  VESSEL.  185 

the  vessel  which  he  meant  to  build  at  Fort  Crfevecoeur, 
and  he  resolved  to  see  her  on  the  stocks  before  he  set 
out.  This  was  no  easy  matter,  for  the  pit-sawyers 
had  deserted.  "Seeing,"  he  writes,  "that  I  should 
lose  a  year  if  I  waited  to  get  others  from  Montreal, 
I  said  one  day,  before  my  people,  that  I  was  so 
vexed  to  find  that  the  absence  of  two  sawyers  would 
defeat  my  plans  and  make  all  my  trouble  useless, 
that  I  was  resolved  to  try  to  saw  the  planks  myself, 
if  I  could  find  a  single  man  who  would  help  me  with 
a  will."  Hereupon,  two  men  stepped  forward  and 
promised  to  do  their  best.  They  were  tolerably 
successful,  and,  the  rest  being  roused  to  emulation, 
the  work  went  on  with  such  vigor  that  within  six 
weeks  the  hull  of  the  vessel  was  half  finished.  She 
was  of  forty  tons'  burden,  and  was  built  with  high 
bulwarks,  to  protect  those  on  board  from  Indian 
arrows. 

La  Salle  now  bethought  him  that,  in  his  absence, 
he  might  get  from  Hennepin  service  of  more  value 
than  his  sermons ;  and  he  requested  him  to  descend 
the  Illinois,  and  explore  it  to  its  mouth.  The  friar, 
though  hardy  and  daring,  would  fain  have  excused 
himself,  alleging  a  troublesome  bodily  infirmity;  but 
his  venerable  colleague  Ribourde,  himself  too  old  for 
the  journey,  urged  him  to  go,  telling  him  that  if  he 
died  by  the  way,  his  apostolic  labors  would  redound 
to  the  glory  of  God.  Membr^  had  been  living  for 
some  time  in  the  Indian  camp,  and  was  thoroughly 
out  of  humor  with   the   objects   of  his   missionaiy 


186  FORT  CRf:VEC(EUR.  [1680. 

efforts,  of  whose  obduracy  and  filth  he  bitterly  com- 
plained. Hennepin  proposed  to  take  his  place,  while 
he  should  assume  the  Mississippi  adventure ;  but  this 
Membr6  declined,  preferring  to  remain  where  he  was. 
Hennepin  now  reluctantly  accepted  the  proposed 
task.  "Anybody  but  me,"  he  says,  with  his  usual 
modesty,  "  would  have  been  very  much  frightened  at 
the  dangers  of  such  a  journey;  and,  in  fact,  if  I  had 
not  placed  all  my  trust  in  God,  I  should  not  have 
been  the  dupe  of  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  who  exposed 
my  life  rashly."^ 

On  the  last  day  of  February,  Hennepin's  canoe 
lay  at  the  water's  edge ;  and  the  party  gathered  on 
the  bank  to  bid  him  farewell.  He  had  two  com- 
panions, —  Michel  Accau,  and  a  man  known  as  the 
Picard  du  Gay,^  though  his  real  name  was  Antoine 
Auguel.  The  canoe  was  well  laden  with  gifts  for 
the  Indians,  —  tobacco,  knives,  beads,  awls,  and 
other  goods,  to  a  very  considerable  value,  supplied 
at  La  Salle's  cost;  "and,  in  fact,"  observes  Hennepin, 
"he  is  liberal  enough  towards  his  friends."^ 

^  AH  the  above  is  from  Hennepin  ;  and  it  seems  to  be  marked  by 
his  characteristic  egotism.  It  appears,  from  La  Salle's  letters,  that 
Accau  was  the  real  chief  of  the  party ;  that  their  orders  were  to 
explore  not  only  the  Illinois,  but  also  a  part  of  the  Mississippi ;  and 
that  Hennepin  volunteered  to  go  with  the  others.  Accau  was 
chosen  because  he  spoke  several  Indian  languages. 

2  An  eminent  writer  has  mistaken  "  Picard "  for  a  personal 
name.  Du  Gay  was  called  "  Le  Picard,"  because  he  came  from  the 
province  of  Picardy. 

8  (1083),  188.  This  commendation  is  suppressed  in  the  later 
editions. 


1680.]  DEPARTURE  OF  HENNEPIN.  187 

The  friar  bade  farewell  to  La  Salle,  and  embraced 
all  the  rest  in  turn.  Father  Ribourde  gave  him  his 
benediction.  "Be  of  good  courage  and  let  your 
heart  be  comforted,"  said  the  excellent  old  missionary, 
as  he  spread  his  hands  in  benediction  over  the  shaven 
crown  of  the  reverend  traveller.  Du  Gay  and  Accau 
plied  their  paddles ;  the  canoe  receded,  and  vanished 
at  length  behind  the  forest.  We  will  follow  Hennepin 
hereafter  on  his  adventures,  imaginary  and  real. 
Meanwhile,  we  will  trace  the  footsteps  of  his  chief, 
urging  his  way,  in  the  storms  of  winter,  through 
those  vast  and  gloomy  Avilds,  —  those  realms  of 
famine,  treachery,  and  death,  —  that  lay  betwixt  him 
and  his  far-distant  goal  of  Fort  Frontenac. 

On  the  first  of  March,  ^  before  the  frost  was  yet  out 
of  the  ground,  when  the  forest  was  still  leafless,  and 
the  oozy  prairies  still  patched  with  snow,  a  band  of 
discontented  men  were  again  gathered  on  the  shore 
for  another  leave-taking.  Hard  by,  the  unfinished 
ship  lay  on  the  stocks,  white  and  fresh  from  the  saw 
and  axe,  ceaselessly  reminding  them  of  the  hardship 
and  peril  that  was  in  store.  Here  you  would  have 
seen  the  calm,  impenetrable  face  of  La  Salle,  and 
with  him  the  Mohegan  hunter,  who  seems  to  have 
felt  towards  him  that  admiring  attachment  which  he 
could  always  inspire  in  his  Indian  retainers.  Besides 
the  Mohegan,  four  Frenchmen  were  to  accompany 
him,  —  Hunaut,  La  Violette,  Collin,  and  Dautray.^ 

1  Tonty  erroneously  places  their  departure  on  the  twenty-second. 

2  Declaration  faite  par  Moyse  Hillaret,  charpentier  cle  barque. 


188  FORT  CR^VECGEUR.  [1680. 

His  parting  with  Tonty  was  an  anxious  one,  for  each 
well  knew  the  risks  that  environed  both.  Embark- 
ing with  his  followers  in  two  canoes,  he  made  his 
way  upward  amid  the  drifting  ice ;  while  the  faithful 
Italian,  with  two  or  three  honest  men  and  twelve  or 
thirteen  knaves,  remained  to  hold  Fort  Crevecoeur 
in  his  absence. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

1680. 

HAEDIHOOD  OF  LA  SALLE. 

The  Winter  Journey.  —  The  Deserted  Town.  —  Starved 
Rock.  —  Lake  Michigan.  —  The  Wilderness.  —  War  Parties. 
—  La  Salle's  Men  give  out. — III  Tidings. —  Mutiny. — 
Chastisement  of  the  Mutineers. 

La  Salle  well  knew  what  was  before  him,  and 
nothing  but  necessity  spurred  him  to  this  desperate 
journey.  He  says  that  he  could  trust  nobody  else  to 
go  in  his  stead,  and  that  unless  the  articles  lost  in 
the  "  Griffin  "  were  replaced  without  delay,  the  expe- 
dition would  be  retarded  a  full  year,  and  he  and  his 
associates  consumed  by  its  expenses.  "Therefore," 
he  writes  to  one  of  them,  "though  the  thaws  of 
approaching  spring  greatly  increased  the  difficulty  of 
the  way,  interrupted  as  it  was  everywhere  by  marshes 
and  rivers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  length  of  the  jour- 
ney, which  is  about  five  hundred  leagues  in  a  direct 
line,  and  the  danger  of  meeting  Indians  of  four  or 
five  different  nations  through  whose  country  we  were 
to  pass,  as  well  as  an  Iroquois  army  which  we  knew 
was  coming  that  way ;  though  we  must  suffer  all  the 


190  HARDIHOOD   OF  LA   SALLE.  [1680. 

time  from  hunger;  sleep  on  the  open  ground,  and 
often  without  food;  watch  by  night  and  march  by- 
day,  loaded  with  baggage,  such  as  blanket,  clothing, 
kettle,  hatchet,  gun,  powder,  lead,  and  skins  to  make 
moccasins;  sometimes  pushing  through  thickets, 
sometimes  climbing  rocks  covered  with  ice  and  snow, 
sometimes  wading  whole  days  through  marshes  where 
the  water  was  waist-deep  or  even  more,  at  a  season 
when  the  snow  was  not  entirely  melted,  —  though  I 
knew  all  this,  it  did  not  prevent  me  from  resolving 
to  go  on  foot  to  Fort  Frontenac,  to  learn  for  myself 
what  had  become  of  my  vessel,  and  bring  back  the 
things  we  needed."^ 

The  winter  had  been  a  severe  one ;  and  when,  an 
hour  after  leaving  the  fort,  he  and  his  companions 
reached  the  still  water  of  Peoria  Lake,  they  found  it 
sheeted  with  ice  from  shore  to  shore.  They  carried 
their  canoes  up  the  bank,  made  two  rude  sledges, 
placed  the  light  vessels  upon  them,  and  dragged  them 
to  the  upper  end  of  the  lake,  where  they  encamped. 
In  the  morning  they  found  the  river  still  covered 
with  ice,  too  weak  to  bear  them  and  too  strong  to 
permit  them  to  break  a  way  for  the  canoes.  They 
spent  the  whole  day  in  carrying  them  through  the 
woods,  toiling  knee-deep  in  saturated  snow.  Rain 
fell  in  floods,  and  they  took  shelter  at  night  in  a 
deserted  Indian  hut. 

In  the  morning,  the  third  of  March,  they  dragged 

1  Lettre  de  La  Salle  a  un  de  ses  associes  (Thouref?),  29  Sept., 
1680  (Margry,  ii.  50). 


1680.]  THE  DESERTED  TOWN.  191 

their  canoes  half  a  league  farther;  then  launched 
them,  and,  breaking  the  ice  with  clubs  and  hatchets, 
forced  their  way  slowly  up  the  stream.  Again  their 
progress  was  barred,  and  again  they  took  to  the 
woods,  toiling  onward  till  a  tempest  of  moist,  half- 
liquid  snow  forced  them  to  bivouac  for  the  night.  A 
sharp  frost  followed,  and  in  the  morning  the  white 
waste  around  them  was  glazed  with  a  dazzling  crust. 
Now,  for  the  first  time,  they  could  use  their  snow- 
shoes.  Bending  to  their  work,  dragging  their  canoes, 
which  glided  smoothly  over  the  polished  surface, 
they  journeyed  on  hour  after  hour  and  league  after 
league,  till  they  reached  at  length  the  great  town  of 
the  Illinois,  still  void  of  its  inhabitants.^ 

It  was  a  desolate  and  lonely  scene,  —  the  river 
gliding  dark  and  cold  between  its  banks  of  rushes ; 
the  empty  lodges,  covered  with  crusted  snow;  the 
vast  white  meadows ;  the  distant  cliffs,  bearded  with 
shining  icicles;  and  the  hills  wrapped  in  forests, 
which  glittered  from  afar  with  the  icy  incrustations 
that  cased  each  frozen  twig.  Yet  there  was  life  in 
the  savage  landscape.  The  men  saw  buffalo  wading 
in  the  snow,  and  they  killed  one  of  them.  More 
than  this:  they  discovered  the  tracks  of  moccasins. 
They  cut  rushes  by  the  edge  of  the  river,  piled  them 
on  the  bank,  and  set  them  on  fire,  that  the  smoke 
might  attract  the  eyes  of  savages  roaming  near. 

1  Membre  says  that  he  was  in  the  town  at  the  time ;  but  this 
could  hardly  have  been  the  case.  He  was,  in  all  probability,  among 
the  Illinois,  in  their  camp  near  Fort  Crevecoeur. 


192  HARDIHOOD  OF  LA  SALLE.  [1680. 

On  the  following  day,  while  the  hunters  were 
smoldng  the  meat  of  the  buffalo,  La  Salle  went  out 
to  reconnoitre,  and  presently  met  three  Indians,  one 
of  whom  proved  to  be  Chassagoac,  the  principal  chief 
of  the  Illinois.  1  La  Salle  brought  them  to  his 
bivouac,  feasted  them,  gave  them  a  red  blanket,  a 
kettle,  and  some  knives  and  hatchets,  made  friends 
with  them,  promised  to  restrain  the  Iroquois  from 
attacking  them,  told  them  that  he  was  on  his  way  to 
the  settlements  to  bring  arms  and  ammunition  to 
defend  them  against  their  enemies,  and,  as  the  result 
of  these  advances,  gained  from  the  chief  a  promise 
that  he  would  send  provisions  to  Tonty's  party  at 
Fort  Crfevecoeur. 

After  several  days  spent  at  the  deserted  town,  La 
Salle  prepared  to  resume  his  journey.  Before  his 
departure,  his  attention  was  attracted  to  the  remark- 
able cliff  of  yellow  sandstone,  now  called  Starved 
Rock,  a  mile  or  more  above  the  village,  —  a  natural 
fortress,  which  a  score  of  resolute  white  men  might 
make  good  against  a  host  of  savages;  and  he  soon 
afterwards  sent  Tonty  an  order  to  examine  it,  and 
make  it  his  stronghold  in  case  of  need.^ 

On  the  fifteenth  the  party  set  out  again,  carried 

1  The  same  whom  Hennepin  calls  Chassagouasse.  He  was 
brotlier  of  the  chief,  Nicanope,  who,  in  his  absence,  had  feasted 
the  French  on  the  day  after  the  nocturnal  council  with  Monso. 
Cliassagoac  was  afterwards  baptized  by  Membre  or  Ribourde,  but 
soon  relapsed  into  the  superstitions  of  liis  people,  and  died,  as  the 
former  tells  us,  "  doubly  a  child  of  perdition."    See  Le  Clerc,  ii.  181. 

2  Tonty,  Memoire.  The  order  was  sent  by  two  Frenchmen,  whom 
La  Salle  met  on  Lake  Michigan. 


1680.]  LA  SALLE'S  JOURNEY.  193 

their  canoes  along  the  bank  of  the  river  as  far  as  the 
rapids  above  Ottawa,  then  launched  them  and  pushed 
their  way  upward,  battling  with  the  floating  ice, 
which,  loosened  by  a  warm  rain,  drove  down  the 
swollen  current  in  sheets.  On  the  eighteenth  they 
reached  a  point  some  miles  below  the  site  of  Joliet, 
and  here  found  the  river  once  more  completely 
closed.  Despairing  of  farther  progress  by  water, 
they  hid  their  canoes  on  an  island,  and  struck  across 
the  country  for  Lake  Michigan. 

It  was  the  worst  of  all  seasons  for  such  a  journey. 
The  nights  were  cold,  but  the  sun  was  warm  at  noon, 
and  the  half-thawed  prairie  was  one  vast  tract  of 
mud,  water,  and  discolored,  half-liquid  snow.  On 
the  twenty-second  they  crossed  marshes  and  inun- 
dated meadows,  wading  to  the  knee,  till  at  noon 
they  were  stopped  by  a  river,  perhaps  the  Calumet. 
They  made  a  raft  of  hard-wood  timber,  for  there  was 
no  other,  and  shoved  themselves  across.  On  the  next 
day  they  could  see  Lake  Michigan  dimly  glimmering 
beyond  the  waste  of  woods ;  and,  after  crossing  three 
swollen  streams,  they  reached  it  at  evening.  On 
the  twenty-fourth  they  followed  its  shore,  till,  at 
nightfall,  they  arrived  at  the  fort  which  they  had 
built  in  the  autumn  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph. 
Here  La  Salle  found  Chapelle  and  Leblanc,  the  two 
men  whom  he  had  sent  from  hence  to  Michilimackinac, 
in  search  of  the  "  Griffin."  ^  They  reported  that  they 
had  made  the  circuit  of  the  lake,  and  had  neither 

1  Declaration  de  Moyse  Hillaret ;  Relation  des  Decouvertes. 

VOL.  I.  — 13 


194  HARDIHOOD  OF   LA   SALLE.  [1680. 

seen  her  nor  heard  tidings  of  her.  Assured  of  her 
fate,  he  ordered  them  to  rejoin  Tonty  at  Fort 
Crevecoeur;  wliile  he  pushed  onward  with  liis  party 
through  the  unknown  wild  of  Southern  Michigan. 

"The  rain,"  says  La  Salle,  "which  lasted  all  day, 
and  the  raft  we  were  obliged  to  make  to  cross  the 
river,  stopped  us  till  noon  of  the  twenty-fifth,  when 
we  continued  our  march  through  the  woods,  which 
was  so  interlaced  with  thorns  and  brambles  that  in 
two  days  and  a  half  our  clothes  were  all  torn,  and 
our  faces  so  covered  with  blood  that  we  hardly  knew 
each  other.  On  the  twenty-eighth  we  found  the 
woods  more  open,  and  began  to  fare  better,  meeting 
a  good  deal  of  game,  which  after  this  rarely  failed 
us ;  so  that  we  no  longer  carried  provisions  with  us, 
but  made  a  meal  of  roast  meat  wherever  we  happened 
to  kill  a  deer,  bear,  or  turkey.  These  are  the  choicest 
feasts  on  a  journey  like  this;  and  till  now  we  had 
generally  gone  without  them,  so  that  we  had  often 
walked  all  day  without  breakfast. 

"  The  Indians  do  not  hunt  in  this  region,  which  is 
debatable  ground  between  five  or  six  nations  who  are 
at  war,  and,  being  afraid  of  each  other,  do  not 
venture  into  these  parts  except  to  surprise  each  other, 
and  always  with  the  greatest  precaution  and  all 
possil)le  secrecy.  The  reports  of  our  guns  and  tlie 
carcasses  of  the  animals  we  killed  soon  led  some  of 
them  to  find  our  trail.  In  fact,  on  the  evening  of  the 
twenty-eighth,  having  made  our  fire  by  the  edge  of  a 
prairie,    we   were  surrounded   by  them;  but  as    the 


1680.]  INDIAN   ALARMS.  195 

man  on  guard  waked  us,  and  we  posted  ourselves 
behind  trees  with  our  guns,  these  savages,  who  are 
called  Wapoos,  took  us  for  Iroquois,  and  thinking 
that  there  must  be  a  great  many  of  us  because  we 
did  not  travel  secretly,  as  they  do  when  in  small 
bands,  they  ran  off  without  shooting  their  arrows, 
and  gave  the  alarm  to  their  comrades,  so  that  we 
were  two  days  without  meeting  anybody." 

La  Salle  guessed  the  cause  of  their  fright;  and,  in 
order  to  confirm  their  delusion,  he  drew  with  char- 
coal, on  the  trunks  of  trees  from  which  he  had 
stripped  the  bark,  the  usual  marks  of  an  Iroquois 
war-party,  with  signs  for  prisoners  and  for  scalps, 
after  the  custom  of  those  dreaded  warriors.  This 
ingenious  artifice,  as  will  soon  appear,  was  near  prov- 
ing the  destruction  of  the  whole  party.  He  also  set 
fire  to  the  dry  grass  of  the  prairies  over  which  he  and 
his  men  had  just  passed,  thus  destroying  the  traces 
of  their  passage.  "We  practised  tliis  device  every 
night,  and  it  answered  very  well  so  long  as  we  were 
passing  over  an  open  country;  but  on  the  thirtieth 
we  got  into  great  marshes,  flooded  by  the  thaws,  and 
were  obliged  to  cross  them  in  mud  or  water  up  to 
the  waist;  so  that  our  tracks  betrayed  us  to  a  band 
of  Mascoutins  who  were  out  after  Iroquois.  They 
followed  us  through  these  marshes  during  the  three 
days  we  were  crossing  them ;  but  we  made  no  fire  at 
night,  contenting  ourselves  with  taking  off  our  wet 
clothes  and  wrapping  ourselves  in  our  blankets  on 
some  dry  knoll,  where  we   slept  till   morning.     At 


196  HARDIHOOD  OF  LA   SALLE.  [1680. 

last,  on  the  night  of  the  second  of  April,  there  came 
a  hard  frost,  and  our  clothes,  which  were  drenched 
when  we  took  them  off,  froze  stiff  as  sticks,  so  that 
we  could  not  put  them  on  in  the  morning  without 
making  a  fire  to  thaw  them.  The  fire  betrayed  us  to 
the  Indians,  who  were  encamped  across  the  marsh; 
and  they  ran  towards  us  with  loud  cries,  till  they 
were  stopped  halfway  by  a  stream  so  deep  that  they 
could  not  get  over,  the  ice  which  had  formed  in  the 
night  not  being  strong  enough  to  bear  them.  We 
went  to  meet  them,  within  gun-shot;  and  whether 
our  fire-arms  frightened  them,  or  whether  they  thought 
us  more  numerous  than  we  were,  or  whether  they 
really  meant  us  no  harm,  they  called  out,  in  the 
Illinois  language,  that  they  had  taken  us  for  Iroquois, 
but  now  saw  that  we  were  friends  and  brothers; 
whereupon,  they  went  off  as  they  came,  and  we  kept 
on  our  way  till  the  fourth,  when  two  of  my  men  fell 
ill  and  could  not  walk." 

In  this  emergency,  La  Salle  went  in  search  of  some 
watercourse  by  which  they  might  reach  Lake  Erie, 
and  soon  came  upon  a  small  river,  wliich  was  prob- 
ably the  Huron.  Here,  while  the  sick  men  rested, 
their  companions  made  a  canoe.  There  were  no 
birch-trees ;  and  they  were  forced  to  use  elm-bark, 
which  at  that  early  season  would  not  slip  freely  from 
the  wood  until  they  loosened  it  with  hot  water. 
Their  canoe  being  made,  they  embarked  in  it,  and 
for  a  time  floated  prosperously  down  the  stream, 
when   at  length   the   way  was  barred  by  a  matted 


1680.]  THE  JOURNEY'S  END.  107 

barricade  of  trees  fallen  across  the  water.  The  sick 
men  could  now  walk  again,  and,  pushing  eastward 
through  the  forest,  the  party  soon  reached  the  banks 
of  the  Detroit. 

La  Salle  directed  two  of  the  men  to  make  a  canoe, 
and  go  to  Michilimackinac,  the  nearest  harborage. 
With  the  remaining  two,  he  crossed  the  Detroit  on  a 
raft,  and,  striking  a  direct  line  across  the  country, 
reached  Lake  Erie  not  far  from  Point  Pelde.  Snow, 
sleet,  and  rain  pelted  them  with  little  intermission; 
and  when,  after  a  walk  of  about  thirty  miles,  they 
gained  the  lake,  the  Mohegan  and  one  of  the  French- 
men were  attacked  with  fever  and  spitting  of  blood. 
Only  one  man  now  remained  in  health.  With  his 
aid,  La  Salle  made  another  canoe,  and,  embarking 
the  invalids,  pushed  for  Niagara.  It  was  Easter 
Monday  when  they  landed  at  a  cabin  of  logs  above 
the  cataract,  probably  on  the  spot  where  the  "  Griffin  " 
was  built.  Here  several  of  La  Salle's  men  had  been 
left  the  year  before,  and  here  they  still  remained. 
They  told  him  woful  news.  Not  only  had  he  lost 
the  "Griffin,"  and  her  lading  of  ten  thousand  crowns 
in  value,  but  a  ship  from  France,  freighted  with  his 
goods,  valued  at  more  than  twenty-two  thousand 
livres,  had  been  totally  wrecked  at  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Lawrence ;  and  of  twenty  hired  men  on  their  way 
from  Europe  to  join  him,  some  had  been  detained  by 
his  enemy,  the  Intendant  Duchesneau,  while  all  but 
four  of  the  remainder,  being  told  that  he  was  dead, 
had  found  means  to  return  home. 


198  HARDIHOOD  OF  LA  SALLE.  [1680. 

His  three  followers  were  all  unfit  for  travel:  he 
alone  retained  his  strength  and  spirit.  Taking  with 
him  three  fresh  men  at  Niagara,  he  resumed  his 
journey,  and  on  the  sixth  of  May  descried,  looming 
through  floods  of  rain,  the  familiar  shores  of  his 
seigniory  and  the  bastioned  walls  of  Fort  Frontenac. 
During  sixty-five  days  he  had  toiled  almost  inces- 
santly, travelling,  by  the  course  he  took,  about  a 
thousand  miles  through  a  country  beset  with  every 
form  of  peril  and  obstruction,  —  "  the  most  arduous 
journey,"  says  the  chronicler,  "ever  made  by  French- 
men in  America." 

Such  was  Cavelier  de  la  Salle.  In  him,  an  uncon- 
querable mind  held  at  its  service  a  frame  of  iron,  and 
tasked  it  to  the  utmost  of  its  endurance.  The  pioneer 
of  western  pioneers  was  no  rude  son  of  toil,  but  a 
man  of  thought,  trained  amid  arts  and  letters.  ^  He 
had  reached  his  goal ;  but  for  him  there  was  neither 
rest  nor  peace.  Man  and  Nature  seemed  in  arms 
against  him.  His  agents  had  plundered  him;  his 
creditors  had  seized  his  property ;  and  several  of  his 
canoes,  richly  laden,  had  been  lost  in  the  rapids  of 
the  St.  Lawrence. 2    He  hastened  to  Montreal,  where 

*  A  Rocky  Mountain  trapper,  being  complimented  on  the  lianli- 
hood  of  liimself  and  his  companions,  once  said  to  the  writer, 
"  That 's  so  ;  but  a  gentleman  of  the  right  sort  will  stand  hardship 
better  than  anybody  else."  The  history  of  Arctic  and  African 
travel  and  the  military  records  of  all  time  are  a  standing  evidence 
that  a  trained  and  developed  mind  is  not  the  enemy,  but  the  active 
and  powerful  ally,  of  constitutional  hardihood.  The  culture  that 
enervates  instead  of  strengthening  is  always  a  false  or  a  partial  one. 

2  Zenobe  Membre'  in  Le  Clerc,  ii.  202. 


1680.]  THE  MUTINEERS.  199 

his  sudden  advent  caused  great  astonishment;  and 
where,  despite  his  crippled  resources  and  damaged 
credit,  he  succeeded,  within  a  week,  in  gaining  the 
supplies  which  he  required  and  the  needful  succors 
for  the  forlorn  band  on  the  Illinois.  He  had  returned 
to  Fort  Frontenac,  and  was  on  the  point  of  embark- 
ing for  their  relief,  when  a  blow  fell  upon  him  more 
disheartening  than  any  that  had  preceded. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  July,  two  voyagetirs, 
Messier  and  Laurent,  came  to  him  with  a  letter  from 
Tonty,  who  wrote  that  soon  after  La  Salle's  departure 
nearly  all  the  men  had  deserted,  after  destroying  Fort 
Crevecoeur,  plundering  the  magazine,  and  throwing 
into  the  river  all  the  arms,  goods,  and  stores  wliich 
they  could  not  carry  off.  The  messengers  who 
brought  this  letter  were  speedily  followed  by  two  of 
the  habitants  of  Fort  Frontenac,  who  had  been  trad- 
ing on  the  lakes,  and  who,  with  a  fidelity  which  the 
unhappy  La  Salle  rarely  knew  how  to  inspire,  had 
travelled  day  and  night  to  bring  him  their  tidings. 
They  reported  that  they  had  met  the  deserters,  and 
that,  having  been  reinforced  by  recruits  gained  at 
Michilimackinac  and  Niagara,  they  now  numbered 
twenty  men.^     They  had  destroyed  the  fort  on  the 

1  When  La  Salle  was  at  Niagara,  in  April,  he  had  ordered  Dau- 
tray,  the  best  of  the  men  who  had  accompanied  him  from  the  Illi- 
nois, to  return  thither  as  soon  as  he  was  able.  Four  men  from 
Niagara  were  to  go  with  him  and  he  was  to  rejoin  Tonty  with  such 
supplies  as  that  post  could  furnish.  Dautray  set  out  accordingly, 
but  was  met  on  the  lakes  by  the  deserters,  who  told  him  that  Tonty 
was  dead,  and  seduced  his  men.     {Relation  des  Decouvertes.)     Dau- 


200  HARDIHOOD  OF   LA   SALLE,  [1680. 

St.  Joseph,  seized  a  quantity  of  furs  belonging  to  La 
Salle  at  Michilimackinac,  and  plundered  the  maga- 
zine at  Niagara.  Here  they  had  separated,  eight  of 
them  coasting  the  south  side  of  Lake  Ontario  to  find 
harborage  at  Albany,  a  common  refuge  at  that  time 
of  this  class  of  scoundrels;  while  the  remaining 
twelve,  in  three  canoes,  made  for  Fort  Frontenac 
along  the  north  shore,  intending  to  kill  La  Salle  as 
the  surest  means  of  escaping  punishment. 

He  lost  no  time  in  lamentation.  Of  the  few  men 
at  his  command  he  chose  nine  of  the  trustiest, 
embarked  with  them  in  canoes,  and  went  to  meet  the 
marauders.  After  passing  the  Bay  of  Quints,  he 
took  his  station  with  five  of  liis  party  at  a  point  of 
land  suited  to  his  purpose,  and  detached  the  remain- 
ing four  to  keep  watch.  In  the  morning,  two  canoes 
were  discovered  approaching  \vithout  suspicion,  one 
of  them  far  in  advance  of  the  other.  As  the  fore- 
most drew  near.  La  Salle's  canoe  darted  out  from 
under  the  leafy  shore,  —  two  of  the  men  handling  the 
paddles,  while  he,  with  the  remaining  two,  levelled 
their  guns  at  the  deserters,  and  called  on  them  to 
surrender.  Astonished  and  dismayed,  they  yielded 
at  once;  while  two  more,  who  were  in  the  second 
canoe,  hastened  to  follow  their  example.  La  Salle 
now  returned  to  the  fort  with  his  prisoners,  placed 

tray  himself  seems  to  have  remained  true ;  at  least,  he  was  in  La 
Salle's  service  immediately  after,  and  was  one  of  his  most  trusted 
followers.  He  was  of  good  birth,  being  the  son  of  Jean  Bourdon,  a 
conspicuous  personage  in  the  early  period  of  the  colony  ;  and  his 
name  appears  on  official  records  as  Jean  Bourdon,  Sieur  d'Autray. 


1680.]  CHASTISEMENT.  201 

them  in  custody,  and  again  set  forth.  He  met  the 
third  canoe  upon  the  lake  at  about  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  His  men  vainly  plied  their  paddles  in  pur- 
suit. The  mutineers  reached  the  shore,  took  post 
among  rocks  and  trees,  levelled  their  guns,  and 
showed  fight.  Four  of  La  Salle's  men  made  a  circuit 
to  gain  their  rear  and  dislodge  them,  on  which  they 
stole  back  to  their  canoe  and  tried  to  escape  in  the 
darkness.  They  were  pursued,  and  summoned  to 
yield ;  but  they  replied  by  aiming  their  guns  at  their 
pursuers,  who  instantly  gave  them  a  volley,  killed 
two  of  them,  and  captured  the  remaining  three. 
Like  their  companions,  they  were  placed  in  custody 
at  the  fort,  to  await  the  arrival  of  Count  Frontenac.^ 

^  La  Salle's  long  letter,  written  apparently  to  his  associate 
Thouret,  and  dated  29  Sept.,  1680,  is  tlie  chief  authority  for  the 
above.  The  greater  part  of  this  letter  is  incorporated,  almost  ver- 
batim, in  the  official  narrative  called  Relation  des  Decouvertes. 
Hennepin,  Membre',  and  Tonty  also  speak  of  the  journey  from  Fort 
Crevecceur.  The  death  of  the  two  mutineers  was  used  by  La  Salle's 
enemies  as  the  basis  of  a  chargfe  of  murder. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

1680. 
INDIAN  CONQUERORS. 

The  Enterprise  renewed.  —  Attempt  to  rescue  Tontt.  —  Buf- 
falo. —  A  Frightful  Discovery.  —  Iroquois  Fury.  —  The 
Ruined  Town.  —  A  Night  of  Horror.  —  Traces  of  the 
Invaders.  —  No  News  of  Tontt. 

And  now  La  Salle's  work  must  be  begun  afresh. 
He  had  staked  all,  and  all  had  seemingly  been  lost. 
In  stern,  relentless  effort  he  had  touched  the  limits 
of  human  endurance ;  and  the  harvest  of  his  toil  was 
disappointment,  disaster,  and  impending  ruin.  The 
shattered  fabric  of  his  enterprise  was  prostrate  in  the 
dust.  His  friends  desponded;  his  foes  were  blatant 
and  exultant.  Did  he  bend  before  the  storm?  No 
human  eye  could  pierce  the  depths  of  his  reserved 
and  haughty  nature;  but  the  surface  was  calm,  and 
no  sign  betrayed  a  shaken  resolve  or  an  altered  pur- 
pose. Where  weaker  men  would  have  abandoned 
all  in  despairing  apathy,  he  turned  anew  to  his  work 
with  the  same  vigor  and  the  same  apparent  confidence 
as  if  borne  on  the  full  tide  of  success. 

His  best  hope  was  in  Tonty.  Could  that  brave  and 
true-hearted  officer  and  the   three   or  four  faithful 


1680.]  ANOTHER  EFFORT.  203 

men  who  had  remained  with  him  make  good  their 
foothold  on  the  Illinois,  and  save  from  destruction 
the  vessel  on  the  stocks  and  the  forge  and  tools  so 
laboriously  carried  thither,  then  a  basis  was  left  on 
which  the  ruined  enterprise  might  be  built  up  once 
more.  There  was  no  time  to  lose.  Tonty  must  be 
succored  soon,  or  succor  would  come  too  late.  La 
Salle  had  already  provided  the  necessary  material, 
and  a  few  days  sufficed  to  complete  his  preparations. 
On  the  tenth  of  August  he  embarked  again  for  the 
Illinois.  With  him  went  his  lieutenant  La  Forest, 
who  held  of  him  in  fief  an  island,  then  called  Belle 
Isle,  opposite  Fort  Frontenac.^  A  surgeon,  ship- 
carpenters,  joiners,  masons,  soldiers,  voyageurs,  and 
laborers  completed  liis  company,  twenty-five  men  in 
all,  with  everything  needful  for  the  outfit  of  the 
vessel. 

His  route,  though  difficult,  was  not  so  long  as  that 
which  he  had  followed  the  year  before.  He  ascended 
the  river  Humber;  crossed  to  Lake  Simcoe,  and 
thence  descended  the  Severn  to  the  Georgian  Bay  of 
Lake  Huron;  followed  its  eastern  shore,  coasted  the 
Manitoulin  Islands,  and  at  length  reached  Michili- 
mackinac.  Here,  as  usual,  all  was  hostile;  and  he 
had  great  difficulty  in  inducing  the  Indians,  who  had 
been  excited  against  him,  to  sell  him  provisions. 
Anxious  to  reach  his  destination,  he  pushed  forward 
with  twelve  men,  leaving  La  Forest  to  bring  on  the 

1  Robert  Cavelier,  S^-  de  la  Salle,  a  Frangois  Daupin,  S''-  de  la 
Forest,  10  Juin,  1679. 


204  INDIAN  CONQUERORS.  [1680. 

rest.  On  the  fourth  of  November  ^  he  reached  the 
ruined  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  and  left 
five  of  liis  party,  with  the  heavy  stores,  to  wait  till 
La  Forest  should  come  up,  while  he  himself  hastened 
forward  with  six  Frenchmen  and  an  Indian.  A  deep 
anxiety  possessed  him.  The  rumor,  current  for 
months  past,  that  the  Iroquois,  bent  on  destroying 
the  Illinois,  were  on  the  point  of  invading  their 
country  had  constantly  gained  strength.  Here  was 
a  new  disaster,  which,  if  realized,  might  involve  him 
and  liis  enterprise  in  irretrievable  wreck. 

He  ascended  the  St.  Joseph,  crossed  the  portage 
to  the  Kankakee,  and  followed  its  course  downward 
till  it  joined  the  northern  branch  of  the  Illinois.  He 
had  heard  nothing  of  Tonty  on  the  way,  and  neither 
here  nor  elsewhere  could  he  discover  the  smallest 
sign  of  the  passage  of  white  men.  His  friend,  there- 
fore, if  alive,  was  probably  still  at  his  post ;  and  he 
pursued  his  course  with  a  mind  lightened,  in  some 
small  measure,  of  its  load  of  anxiety. 

When  last  he  had  passed  here,  all  was  solitude; 
but  now  the  scene  was  changed.  The  boundless 
waste  was  thronged  with  life.  He  beheld  that 
wondrous  spectacle,  still  to  be  seen  at  times  on  the 
plains  of  the  remotest  West,  and  the  memory  of 
which  can  quicken  the  pulse  and  stir  the  blood  after 

1  This  date  is  from  the  Relation.  Membr€  says  the  twenty- 
eighth  ;  but  he  is  wrong,  by  his  own  showing,  as  he  says  that  the 
party  reached  the  Illinois  village  on  the  first  of  December,  which 
would  be  an  impossibility. 


1680.]  BUFFALO.  205 

the  lapse  of  years :  far  and  near,  the  prairie  was  alive 
with  buffalo ;  now  like  black  specks  dotting  the  dis- 
tant swells ;  now  trampling  by  in  ponderous  columns, 
or  filing  in  long  lines,  morning,  noon,  and  night,  to 
drink  at  the  river,  —  wading,  plunging,  and  snorting 
in  the  water ;  climbing  the  muddy  shores,  and  staring 
with  wild  eyes  at  the  passing  canoes.  It  was  an 
opportunity  not  to  be  lost.  The  party  landed,  and 
encamped  for  a  hunt.  Sometimes  they  hid  under 
the  shelving  bank,  and  shot  them  as  they  came  to 
drink;  sometimes,  flat  on  their  faces,  they  dragged 
themselves  through  the  long  dead  grass,  till  the 
savage  bulls,  guardians  of  the  herd,  ceased  their 
grazing,  raised  their  huge  heads,  and  glared  through 
tangled  hair  at  the  dangerous  intruders.  The  hunt 
was  successful.  In  three  days  the  hunters  killed 
twelve  buffalo,  besides  deer,  geese,  and  swans. 
They  cut  the  meat  into  thin  flakes,  and  dried  it  in 
the  sun  or  in  the  smoke  of  their  fires.  The  men 
were  in  high  spirits,  —  delighting  in  the  sport,  and 
rejoicing  in  the  prospect  of  relieving  Tonty  and  his 
hungry  followers  with  a  plentiful  supply. 

They  embarked  again,  and  soon  approached  the 
great  town  of  the  Illinois.  The  buffalo  were  far 
behind;  and  once  more  the  canoes  glided  on  their 
way  through  a  voiceless  solitude.  No  hunters  were 
seen;  no  saluting  whoop  greeted  their  ears.  They 
passed  the  cliff  afterwards  called  the  Rock  of  St. 
Louis,  where  La  Salle  had  ordered  Tonty  to  build 
his  stronghold;  but  as  he  scanned  its   lofty  top   he 


206  INDIAN  CONQUERORS.  [1680. 

saw  no  palisades,  no  cabins,  no  sign  of  human  hand, 
and  still  its  primeval  crest  of  forests  overhung  the 
gliding  river.  Now  the  meadow  opened  before  them 
where  the  great  town  had  stood.  They  gazed,  aston- 
ished and  confounded:  all  was  desolation.  The 
town  had  vanished,  and  the  meadow  was  black  with 
fire.  They  plied  their  paddles,  hastened  to  the  spot, 
landed ;  and  as  they  looked  around  their  cheeks  grew 
white,  and  the  blood  was  frozen  in  their  veins. 

Before  them  lay  a  plain  once  swarming  with  wild 
human  life  and  covered  with  Indian  dwellings,  now 
a  waste  of  devastation  and  death,  strewn  with  heaps 
of  ashes,  and  bristling  with  the  charred  poles  and 
stakes  which  had  formed  the  framework  of  the 
lodges.  At  the  points  of  most  of  them  were  stuck 
human  skulls,  half  picked  by  birds  of  prey.^  Near 
at  hand  was  the  burial-ground  of  the  village.  The 
travellers  sickened  with  horror  as  they  entered  its 
revolting  precincts.  Wolves  in  multitudes  fled  at 
their  approach;  while  clouds  of  crows  or  buzzards, 
rising  from  the  hideous  repast,  wheeled  above  their 
heads,  or  settled  on  the  naked  branches  of  the  neigh- 
boring forest.  Every  grave  had  been  rifled,  and 
the  bodies  flung  down  from  the  scaifolds  where,  after 
the  Illinois  custom,  many  of  them  had  been  placed. 
The  field  was  strewn  with  broken  bones  and  torn  and 


1  "  II  ne  restoit  que  quelques  bouts  de  perches  brulees  qui  tnon- 
troient  quelle  avoit  ete'  re'tcndue  du  village,  et  sur  la  plupart  des- 
quelles  il  y  avoit  des  tetes  de  morts  plantees  et  mangees  des  cor- 
beaux."  —  Relation  des  Decouvertes  du  S''-  de  la  Salle. 


1680.]  A  NIGHT  OF  HORROR.  207 

mangled  corpses.  A  hyena  warfare  had  been  waged 
against  the  dead.  La  Salle  knew  the  handiwork  of 
the  Iroquois.  The  threatened  blow  had  fallen,  and 
the  wolfish  hordes  of  the  five  cantons  had  fleshed 
their  rabid  fangs  in  a  new  victim.^ 

Not  far  distant,  the  conquerors  had  made  a  rude 
fort  of  trunks,  boughs,  and  roots  of  trees  laid  together 
to  form  a  circular  enclosure ;  and  this,  too,  was  gar- 
nished with  skulls,  stuck  on  the  broken  branches  and 
protruding  sticks.  The  caches^  or  subterranean  store- 
houses of  the  villagers,  had  been  broken  open  and 
the  contents  scattered.  The  cornfields  were  laid 
waste,  and  much  of  the  corn  thrown  into  heaps  and 
half  burned.  As  La  Salle  surveyed  this  scene  of 
havoc,  one  thought  engrossed  him:  where  were 
Tonty  and  his  men?  He  searched  the  Iroquois  fort: 
there  were  abundant  traces  of  its  savage  occupants, 
and,  among  them,  a  few  fragments  of  French  cloth- 

1  "Beaucoup  de  carcasses  k  demi  rongees  par  les  loups,  les 
sepulchres  demolis,  les  os  tires  de  leurs  fosses  et  epars  par  la  cam- 
pagne ;  .  .  .  enfin  les  loups  et  les  corbeaux  augmentoient  encore 
par  leurs  hurlemens  et  par  leurs  cris  I'liorreur  de  ce  spectacle."  — 
Relation  des  Decouvertes  du  S""-  de  la  Salle. 

The  above  may  seem  exaggerated  ;  but  it  accords  perfectly  with 
what  is  well  established  concerning  the  ferocious  character  of  the 
Iroquois  and  the  nature  of  their  warfare.  Many  other  tribes  have 
frequently  made  war  upon  the  dead.  I  have  myself  known  an 
instance  in  which  five  corpses  of  Sioux  Indians  placed  in  trees, 
after  the  practice  of  tlie  Western  bands  of  that  people,  were  thrown 
down  and  kicked  into  fragments  by  a  war  party  of  tlie  Crows,  who 
tlien  held  the  muzzles  of  their  guns  against  the  skulls,  and  blew 
them  to  pieces.  This  happened  near  the  head  of  the  Platte,  in  the 
summer  of  1846.  Yet  tlie  Crows  are  much  less  ferocious  than  were 
tlie  Iroquois  in  La  Salle's  time. 


208  INDIAN  CONQUERORS.  [1680. 

ing.  He  examined  the  skulls ;  but  the  hair,  portions 
of  which  clung  to  nearly  all  of  them,  was  in  every 
case  that  of  an  Indian.  Evening  came  on  before  he 
had  finished  the  search.  The  sun  set,  and  the  wil- 
derness sank  to  its  savage  rest.  Night  and  silence 
brooded  over  the  waste,  where,  far  as  the  raven  could 
wing  his  flight,  stretched  the  dark  domain  of  solitude 
and  horror. 

Yet  there  was  no  silence  at  the  spot  where  La 
Salle  and  his  companions  made  their  bivouac.  The 
howling  of  the  wolves  filled  the  air  with  fierce  and 
dreary  dissonance.  More  dangerous  foes  were  not 
far  off,  for  before  nightfall  they  had  seen  fresh  Indian 
tracks;  "but,  as  it  was  very  cold,"  says  La  Salle, 
"this  did  not  prevent  us  from  making  a  fire  and 
lying  down  by  it,  each  of  us  keeping  watch  in  turn. 
I  spent  the  night  in  a  distress  which  you  can  imagine 
better  than  I  can  write  it;  and  I  did  not  sleep  a 
moment  with  trying  to  make  up  my  mind  as  to  what 
I  ought  to  do.  My  ignorance  as  to  the  position  of 
those  I  was  looking  after,  and  my  uncertainty  as  to 
what  would  become  of  the  men  who  were  to  follow 
me  with  La  Forest  if  they  arrived  at  the  ruined  vil- 
lage and  did  not  find  me  there,  made  me  apprehend 
every  sort  of  trouble  and  disaster.  At  last,  I  decided 
to  keep  on  my  way  down  the  river,  leaving  some  of 
my  men  behind  in  charge  of  the  goods,  which  it  was 
not  only  useless  but  dangerous  to  carry  with  me, 
because  we  should  be  forced  to  abandon  them  when 
the  winter  fairly  set  in,  which  would  be  very  soon." 


1680.]  FEAKS  FOR  TONTY.  209 

This  resolution  was  due  to  a  discovery  he  had 
made  the  evening  before,  which  offered,  as  he 
thought,  a  possible  clew  to  the  fate  of  Tonty  and 
the  men  with  him.  He  thus  describes  it :  "  Near  the 
garden  of  the  Indians,  which  was  on  the  meadows,  a 
league  from  the  village  and  not  far  from  the  river,  I 
found  six  pointed  stakes  set  in  the  ground  and 
painted  red.  On  each  of  them  was  the  figure  of  a 
man  with  bandaged  eyes,  drawn  in  black.  As  the 
savages  often  set  stakes  of  this  sort  where  they  have 
killed  people,  I  thought,  by  their  number  and  posi- 
tion, that  when  the  Iroquois  came,  the  Illinois,  find- 
ing our  men  alone  in  the  hut  near  their  garden,  had 
either  killed  them  or  made  them  prisoners.  And  I 
was  confirmed  in  this,  because,  seeing  no  signs  of  a 
battle,  I  supposed  that  on  hearing  of  the  approach  of 
the  Iroquois,  the  old  men  and  other  non-combatants 
had  fled,  and  that  the  young  warriors  had  remained 
behind  to  cover  their  flight,  and  afterwards  followed, 
taking  the  French  with  them;  while  the  Iroquois, 
fuiding  nobody  to  kill,  had  vented  their  fury  on  the 
corpses  in  the  graveyard." 

Uncertain  as  was  the  basis  of  this  conjecture,  and 
feeble  as  was  the  hope  it  afforded,  it  determined  him 
to  push  forward,  in  order  to  learn  more.  When 
daylight  returned,  he  told  his  purpose  to  his  fol- 
lowers, and  directed  three  of  them  to  await  his  return 
near  the  ruined  village.  They  were  to  hide  them- 
selves on  an  island,  conceal  their  fire  at  night,  make 
no   smoke  by  day,   fire  no  guns,   and  keep  a  close 

VOL.  I. 14 


210  INDIAN  CONQUERORS,  [1680. 

watch.  Should  the  rest  of  the  party  arrive,  they, 
too,  were  to  wait  with  similar  precautions.  The 
baggage  was  placed  in  a  hollow  of  the  rocks,  at  a 
place  difficult  of  access;  and,  these  arrangements 
made,  La  Salle  set  out  on  his  perilous  journey  with 
the  four  remaining  men,  Dautray,  Hunaut,  You,  and 
the  Indian.  Each  was  armed  with  two  guns,  a 
pistol,  and  a  sword;  and  a  number  of  hatchets  and 
other  goods  were  placed  in  the  canoe,  as  presents  for 
Indians  whom  they  might  meet. 

Several  leagues  below  the  village  they  found,  on 
their  right  hand  close  to  the  river,  a  sort  of  island, 
made  inaccessible  by  the  marshes  and  water  which 
surrounded  it.  Here  the  flying  Illinois  had  sought 
refuge  with  their  women  and  children,  and  the  place 
was  full  of  their  deserted  huts.  On  the  left  bank, 
exactly  opposite,  was  an  abandoned  camp  of  the 
Iroquois.  On  the  level  meadow  stood  a  hundred  and 
thirteen  huts,  and  on  the  forest  trees  which  covered 
the  hills  behind  were  carved  the  totems,  or  insignia, 
of  the  chiefs,  together  with  marks  to  show  the 
number  of  followers  which  each  had  led  to  the  war. 
La  Salle  counted  five  hundred  and  eighty-two  war- 
riors. He  found  marks,  too,  for  the  Illinois  Idlled 
or  captured,  but  none  to  indicate  that  any  of  the 
Frenchmen  had  shared  their  fate. 

As  they  descended  the  river,  they  passed,  on  the 
same  day,  six  abandoned  camps  of  the  Illinois;  and 
opposite  to  each  was  a  camp  of  the  invaders.  The 
former,  it  was  clear,  had  retreated  in  a  body ;  while 


1680.]  SEARCH  FOR  TONTY.  211 

the  Iroquois  had  followed  their  march,  day  by  day, 
along  the  other  bank.  La  Salle  and  his  men  pushed 
rapidly  onward,  passed  Peoria  Lake,  and  soon 
reached  Fort  Crfevecoeur,  which  they  found,  as  they 
expected,  demolished  by  the  deserters.  The  vessel 
on  the  stocks  was  still  left  entire,  though  the  Iroquois 
had  found  means  to  draw  out  the  iron  nails  and 
spikes.  On  one  of  the  planks  were  written  the  words : 
"iVbws  somvies  tons  sauvages :  ce  15,  1680,"  —  the 
work,  no  doubt,  of  the  knaves  who  had  pillaged  and 
destroyed  the  fort. 

La  Salle  and  his  companions  hastened  on,  and  dur- 
ing the  following  day  passed  four  opposing  camps  of 
the  savage  armies.  The  silence  of  death  now  reigned 
along  the  deserted  river,  whose  lonely  borders, 
wrapped  deep  in  forests,  seemed  lifeless  as  the  grave. 
As  they  drew  near  the  mouth  of  the  stream  they 
saw  a  meadow  on  their  right,  and  on  its  farthest 
verge  several  human  figures,  erect,  yet  motionless. 
They  landed,  and  cautiously  examined  the  place. 
The  long  grass  was  trampled  down,  and  all  around 
were  strewn  the  relics  of  the  hideous  orgies  wliich 
formed  the  ordinary  sequel  of  an  Iroquois  victory. 
The  figures  they  had  seen  were  the  half-consumed 
bodies  of  women,  still  bound  to  the  stakes  where 
they  had  been  tortured.  Other  sights  there  were, 
too  revolting  for  record.  ^     All  the  remains  were  those 

1  "  Oa  ne  s9auroit  exprimer  la  rage  de  ces  f  urieux  ni  les  tourmens 
qu'ils  avoient  fait  souffrir  aux  miserables  Tamaroa  [a  tribe  of  the 
Illinois],  II  y  en  avoit  encore  dans  des  chaudi^res  qu'ils  avoient 
laissees  pleines  sur  les  feux,  qui  depuis  s'e'toient  eteints,"  etc.,  etc. 
—  Relation  des  Decouvertes. 


212  INDIAN  CONQUERORS.  [1680. 

of  women  and  children.     The  men,  it  seemed,  had 
fled,  and  left  them  to  their  fate. 

Here,  again.  La  Salle  sought  long  and  anxiously, 
without  finding  the  smallest  sign  that  could  indicate 
the  presence  of  Frenchmen.  Once  more  descending 
the  river,  they  soon  reached  its  mouth.  Before 
them,  a  broad  eddying  current  rolled  swiftly  on  its 
way;  and  La  Salle  beheld  the  Mississippi, — the 
object  of  his  day-dreams,  the  destined  avenue  of  his 
ambition  and  his  hopes.  It  was  no  time  for  reflec- 
tions. The  moment  was  too  engrossing,  too  heavily 
charged  with  anxieties  and  cares.  From  a  rock  on 
the  shore,  he  saw  a  tree  stretched  forward  above  the 
stream;  and  stripping  off  its  bark  to  make  it  more 
conspicuous,  he  hung  upon  it  a  board  on  which  he 
had  drawn  the  figures  of  liimself  and  his  men,  seated 
in  their  canoe,  and  bearing  a  pipe  of  peace.  To  this 
he  tied  a  letter  for  Tonty,  informing  him  that  he  had 
returned  up  the  river  to  the  ruined  village. 

His  four  men  had  behaved  admirably  throughout, 
and  they  now  offered  to  continue  the  journey  if  he 
saw  fit,  and  follow  him  to  the  sea ;  but  he  thought  it 
useless  to  go  farther,  and  was  unwilling  to  abandon 
the  three  men  whom  he  had  ordered  to  await  his 
return.  Accordingly,  they  retraced  their  course, 
and,  paddling  at  times  both  day  and  night,  urged 
their  canoe  so  swiftly  that  they  reached  the  village 
in  the  incredibly  short  space  of  four  days.^ 

^  The  distance  is  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  The 
letters  of  La  Salle,  as  well  as  the  official  narrative  compiled  from 


1681.]  THE  COMET.  213 

The  sky  was  clear,  and  as  night  came  on  the 
travellers  saw  a  prodigious  comet  blazing  above  this 
scene  of  desolation.  On  that  night,  it  was  chilling 
with  a  superstitious  awe  the  hamlets  of  New  England 
and  the  gilded  chambers  of  Versailles ;  but  it  is  char- 
acteristic of  La  Salle,  that,  beset  as  he  was  with  perils 
and  surrounded  with  ghastly  images  of  death,  he 
coolly  notes  down  the  phenomenon,  not  as  a  por- 
tentous messenger  of  war  and  woe,  but  rather  as  an 
object  of  scientific  curiosity.  ^ 

He  found  his  three  men  safely  ensconced  upon 
their  island,  where  they  were  anxiously  looking  for 
his  return.  After  collecting  a  store  of  half-burnt 
corn  from  the  ravaged  granaries  of  the  Illinois,  the 
whole  party  began  to  ascend  the  river,  and  on  the 
sixth  of  January  reached  the  junction  of  the  Kankakee 
with  the  northern  branch.  On  their  way  downward 
they  had  descended  the  former  stream;  they  now 
chose  the  latter,  and  soon  discovered,  by  the  margin 

them,  say  that  they  left  the  village  on  the  second  of  December, 
and  returned  to  it  on  the  eleventh,  having  left  the  mouth  of  the 
river  on  the  seventh. 

1  This  was  the  "  Great  Comet  of  1680."  Dr.  B.  A.  Gould  writes 
me :  "  It  appeared  in  December,  1680,  and  was  visible  until  the 
latter  part  of  February,  1681,  being  especially  brilliant  in  January." 
It  was  said  to  be  the  largest  ever  seen.  By  observations  upon  it, 
Newton  demonstrated  the  regular  revolutions  of  comets  around  the 
sun.  "No  comet,"  it  is  said,  "has  threatened  the  earth  with  a 
nearer  approach  than  that  of  1680."  (  Winthrop  on  Comets,  Lecture 
II.  p.  44.)  Increase  Mather,  in  his  Discourse  concerning  Comets, 
printed  at  Boston  in  1683,  says  of  this  one :  "  Its  appearance  was 
very  terrible ;  the  Blaze  ascended  above  60  Degrees  almost  to  its 
Zenith."  Mather  thought  it  fraught  with  terrific  portent  to  the 
nations  of  the  earth. 


214  INDIAN  CONQUERORS.  [1681. 

of  the  water,  a  rude  cabin  of  bark.  La  Salle  landed 
and  examined  the  spot,  when  an  object  met  his  eye 
which  cheered  him  with  a  bright  gleam  of  hope.  It 
was  but  a  piece  of  wood ;  but  the  wood  had  been  cut 
with  a  saw.  Tonty  and  his  party,  then,  had  passed 
this  way,  escaping  from  the  carnage  behind  them. 
Unhappily,  they  had  left  no  token  of  their  passage 
at  the  fork  of  the  two  streams ;  and  thus  La  Salle, 
on  his  voyage  downward,  had  believed  them  to  be 
still  on  the  river  below. 

With  rekindled  hope,  the  travellers  pursued  their 
journey,  leaving  their  canoes,  and  making  their  way 
overland  towards  the  fort  on  the  St.   Joseph. 

"Snow  fell  in  extraordinary  quantities  all  day," 
writes  La  Salle,  "and  it  kept  on  falling  for  nine- 
teen days  in  succession,  with  cold  so  severe  that 
I  never  knew  so  hard  a  winter,  even  in  Canada. 
We  were  obliged  to  cross  forty  leagues  of  open 
country,  where  we  could  hardly  find  wood  to  warm 
ourselves  at  evening,  and  could  get  no  bark  what- 
ever to  make  a  hut,  so  that  we  had  to  spend  the 
night  exposed  to  the  furious  winds  which  blow 
over  these  plains.  I  never  suffered  so  much  from 
cold,  or  had  more  trouble  in  getting  forward;  for 
the  snow  was  so  light,  resting  suspended  as  it  were 
among  the  tall  grass,  that  we  could  not  use  snow- 
shoes.  Sometimes  it  was  waist  deep;  and  as  I 
walked  before  my  men,  as  usual,  to  encourage 
them  by  breaking  the  path,  I  often  had  much  ado, 
though  I  am  rather  tall,  to  lift  my  legs   above  the 


1681.]  FORT  MIAMI.  215 

drifts,  through  which  I  pushed  by  the  weight  of 
my  body." 

At  length  they  reached  their  goal,  and  found 
shelter  and  safety  within  the  walls  of  Fort  Miami. 
Here  was  the  party  left  in  charge  of  La  Forest ;  but, 
to  his  surprise  and  grief,  La  Salle  heard  no  tidings 
of  Tonty.  He  found  some  amends  for  the  disap- 
pointment in  the  fidelity  and  zeal  of  La  Forest's  men, 
who  had  restored  the  fort,  cleared  ground  for  plant- 
ing, and  even  sawed  the  planks  and  timber  for  a  new 
vessel  on  the  lake. 

And  now,  while  La  Salle  rests  at  Fort  Miami,  let 
us  trace  the  adventures  which  befell  Tonty  and  his 
followers,  after  their  chief's  departure  from  Fort 
Cr^vecceur. 


CHAPTER  XVT. 

1680. 

TONTY  AND  THE   IROQUOIS. 

The  Deserters.  —  The  Iroquois  War.  —  The  Great  Town  of 
THE  Illinois.  —  The  Alarm.  —  Onset  of  the  Iroquois. — 
Peril  of  Tontt.  —  A  Treacherous  Truce.  —  Intrepidity  of 
ToNTY.  —  Murder  of  Ribourde.  —  War  upon  the  Dead. 

When  La  Salle  set  out  on  Ids  rugged  journey  to 
Fort  Frontenac,  he  left,  as  we  have  seen,  fifteen  men 
at  Fort  Crevecoeur,  — smiths,  ship-carpenters,  house- 
wrights,  and  soldiers,  besides  his  servant  L'Esp^rance 
and  the  two  friars  Membr^  and  Ribourde.  Most  of 
the  men  were  ripe  for  mutiny.  They  had  no  interest 
in  the  enterprise,  and  no  love  for  its  chief.  They 
were  disgusted  with  the  present,  and  terrified  at  the 
future.  La  Salle,  too,  was  for  the  most  part  a  stem 
commander,  impenetrable  and  cold;  and  when  he 
tried  to  soothe,  conciliate,  and  encourage,  his  success 
rarely  answered  to  the  excellence  of  his  rhetoric. 
He  could  always,  however,  inspire  respect,  if  not 
love;  but  now  the  restraint  of  his  presence  was 
removed.  He  had  not  been  long  absent,  when  a  fire- 
brand was  thrown  into  the  midst  of  the  discontented 
and  restless  crew. 


1680.]  THE   DESERTERS.  217 

It  may  be  remembered  that  La  Salle  had  met  two 
of  his  men,  La  Chapelle  and  Leblanc,  at  his  fort  on 
the  St.  Joseph,  and  ordered  them  to  rejoin  Tonty. 
Unfortunately,  they  obeyed.  On  arriving,  they  told 
their  comrades  that  the  "  Griffin ''  was  lost,  that  Fort 
Frontenac  was  seized  by  the  creditors  of  La  Salle, 
that  he  was  ruined  past  recovery,  and  that  they,  the 
men,  would  never  receive  their  pay.  Their  wages 
were  in  arrears  for  more  than  two  years ;  and,  indeed, 
it  would  have  been  folly  to  pay  them  before  their 
return  to  the  settlements,  as  to  do  so  would  have 
been  a  temptation  to  desert.  Now,  however,  the 
effect  on  their  minds  was  still  worse,  believing,  as 
many  of  them  did,  that  they  would  never  be  paid  at 
all. 

La  Chapelle  and  his  companion  had  brought  a 
letter  from  La  Salle  to  Tonty,  directing  him  to 
examine  and  fortify  the  cliff  so  often  mentioned, 
which  overhung  the  river  above  the  great  Illinois 
village.  Tonty,  accordingly,  set  out  on  his  errand 
with  some  of  the  men.  In  his  absence,  the  malcon- 
tents destroyed  the  fort,  stole  powder,  lead,  furs, 
and  provisions,  and  deserted,  after  writing  on  the 
side  of  the  unfinished  vessel  the  words  seen  by  La 
Salle,    "iVbws  sommes   tous   sauvages.'^ '^     The  brave 

1  For  the  particulars  of  this  desertion,  Membre  in  Le  Clerc,  ii. 
171,  Relation  des  Decouvertes ;  Tonty,  Memoire,  1684,  1693 ;  Declara- 
tion faite  par  devant  le  S^-  Duchesneau,  Intendant  en  Canada,  par 
Mo)/se  Hillaret,  charpentier  de  barque  cy-devant  au  service  dii  S^-  de  la 
Salle,  Aoust,  1680. 

Moyse  Hillaret,  the  "  Maitre  Moyse  "  of  Hennepin,  was  a  ring- 


218  TONTY  AND  THE   IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

young  Sieurde  Boisrondet  and  the  servant  L'Espdrance 
hastened  to  carry  the  news  to  Tonty,  who  at  once 
despatched  four  of  those  with  him,  by  two  diiferent 
routes,  to  inform  La  Salle  of  the  disaster.^  Besides 
the  two  just  named,  there  now  remained  with  him 
only  one  hired  man  and  the  Rdcollet  friars.  With 
this  feeble  band,  he  was  left  among  a  horde  of  treach- 
erous savages,  who  had  been  taught  to  regard  him 
as  a  secret  enemy.  Resolved,  apparently,  to  disarm 
their  jealousy  by  a  show  of  confidence,  he  took  up 
his  abode  in  the  midst  of  them,  making  his  quarters 
in  the  great  village,  whither,  as  spring  opened,  its 
inhabitants  returned,  to  the  number,  according  to 
Membr^,  of  seven  or  eight  thousand.  Hither  he 
conveyed  the  forge  and  such  tools  as  he  could 
recover,  and  here  he  hoped  to  maintain  himself  till 
La  Salle  should  reappear.  The  spring  and  the 
summer  were  past,  and  he  looked  anxiously  for  his 
coming,  unconscious  that  a  storm  was  gathering  in 

leader  of  the  deserters,  and  seems  to  have  been  one  of  those  cap- 
tured by  La  Salle  near  Fort  Frontenac.  Twelve  days  after,  Hillaret 
was  examined  by  La  Salle's  enemy,  the  intendant ;  and  this  paper  is 
the  formal  statement  made  by  him.  It  gives  the  names  of  most  of 
the  men,  and  furnishes  incidental  confirmation  of  many  statements 
of  Hennepin,  Tonty,  Membr^,  and  the  Relation  des  Decouvertes. 
Hillaret,  Leblanc,  and  Le  Meilleur,  the  blacksmith  nicknamed  La 
Forge,  went  off  together,  and  the  rest  seem  to  have  followed  after- 
wards. Hillaret  does  not  admit  that  any  goods  were  wantonly 
destroyed. 

There  is  before  me  a  schedule  of  the  debts  of  La  Salle,  made 
after  his  death.  It  includes  a  claim  of  this  man  for  wages  to  the 
amount  of  2,500  livres. 

1  Two  of  the  messengers,  Laurent  and  Messier,  arrived  safely. 
The  others  seem  to  have  deserted. 


1680.]  THE  IROQUOIS  WAR.  219 

the  east,   soon  to   burst  with   devastation   over  the 
fertile  wilderness  of  the  Illinois. 

I  have  recounted  the  ferocious  triumphs  of  the 
Iroquois  in  another  volume.^  Throughout  a  wide 
semicircle  around  their  cantons,  they  had  made  the 
forest  a  solitude ;  destroyed  the  Hurons,  exterminated 
the  Neutrals  and  the  Eries,  reduced  the  formidable 
Andastes  to  helpless  insignificance,  swept  the  borders 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  with  fire,  spread  terror  and 
desolation  among  the  Algonquins  of  Canada;  and 
now,  tired  of  peace,  they  were  seeking,  to  borrow 
their  own  savage  metaphor,  new  nations  to  devour. 
Yet  it  was  not  alone  their  homicidal  fury  that  now 
impelled  them  to  another  war.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem,  this  war  was  in  no  small  measure  one  of  com- 
mercial advantage.  They  had  long  traded  with  the 
Dutch  and  English  of  New  York,  who  gave  them, 
in  exchange  for  their  furs,  the  guns,  ammunition, 
knives,  hatchets,  kettles,  beads,  and  brandy  which 
had  become  indispensable  to  them.  Game  was  scarce 
in  their  country.  They  must  seek  their  beaver  and 
other  skins  in  the  vacant  territories  of  the  tribes  they 
had  destroyed;  but  this  did  not  content  them.  The 
French  of  Canada  were  seeking  to  secure  a  monopoly 
of  the  furs  of  the  north  and  west;  and,  of  late,  the 
enterprises  of  La  Salle  on  the  tributaries  of  the 
Mississippi  had  especially  roused  the  jealousy  of 
the  Iroquois,  fomented,  moreover,  by  Dutch  and 
English  traders. 2     These  crafty  savages  would  fain 

^  The  Jesuits  in  North  America. 

2  Duchesneau,  in  Paris  Docs.,  ix.  163. 


220  TONTY  AND  THE   IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

reduce  all  these  regions  to  subjection,  and  draw 
thence  an  exhaustless  supply  of  furs,  to  be  bartered 
for  English  goods  with  the  traders  of  Albany.  They 
turned  their  eyes  first  towards  the  Illinois,  the  most 
important,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  accessible,  of 
the  western  Algonquin  tribes;  and  among  La  Salle's 
enemies  were  some  in  whom  jealousy  of  a  hated 
rival  could  so  far  override  all  the  best  interests  of  the 
colony  that  they  did  not  scruple  to  urge  on  the  Iro- 
quois to  an  invasion  which  they  hoped  would  prove 
his  ruin.  The  chiefs  convened,  war  was  decreed,  the 
war-dance  was  danced,  the  war-song  sung,  and  five 
hundred  warriors  began  their  march.  In  their  path 
lay  the  town  of  the  Miamis,  neighbors  and  kindred 
of  the  Illinois.  It  was  always  their  policy  to  divide 
and  conquer;  and  these  forest  Machiavels  had 
intrigued  so  well  among  the  Miamis,  working  craftily 
on  their  jealousy,  that  they  induced  them  to  join  in 
the  invasion,  though  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  they  had  marked  these  infatuated  allies  as  their 
next  victims.  1 

Go  to  the  banks  of  the  Illinois  where  it  flows  by 
the  village  of  Utica,  and  stand  on  the  meadow  that 
borders  it  on  the  north.  In  front  glides  the  river,  a 
musket-shot  in  width;  and  from  the  farther  bank 
rises,  with  gradual  slope,   a  range  of  wooded  hills 

*  There  had  long  been  a  rankling  jealousy  between  the  Miamis 
and  the  Illinois.  According  to  Membre,  La  Salle's  enemies  had 
intrigued  successfully  among  the  former,  as  well  as  among  the 
Iroquois,  to  induce  them  to  take  arms  against  the  Illinois. 


1680.]  THE  ILLINOIS  TOWN.  221 

that  hide  from  sight  the  vast  prairie  behind  them. 
A  mile  or  more  on  your  left  these  gentle  acclivities 
end  abruptly  in  the  lofty  front  of  the  great  cliff, 
called  by  the  French  the  Rock  of  St.  Louis,  looking 
boldly  out  from  the  forests  that  environ  it;  and, 
three  miles  distant  on  your  right,  you  discern  a  gap 
in  the  steep  bluffs  that  here  bound  the  valley,  mark- 
ing the  mouth  of  the  river  Vermilion,  called  Aramoni 
by  the  French.^  Now  stand  in  fancy  on  this  same 
spot  in  the  early  autumn  of  the  year  1680.  You  are 
in  the  midst  of  the  great  town  of  the  Illinois,  — 
hundreds  of  mat-covered  lodges,  and  thousands  of 
congregated  savages.  Enter  one  of  their  dwellings : 
they  will  not  think  you  an  intruder.  Some  friendly 
squaw  will  lay  a  mat  for  you  by  the  fire ;  you  may 
seat  yourself  upon  it,  smoke  your  pipe,  and  study 
the  lodge  and  its  inmates  by  the  light  that  streams 
through  the  holes  at  the  top.  Three  or  four  fires 
smoke  and  smoulder  on  the  ground  down  the  middle 

1  The  aboTe  is  from  notes  made  on  the  spot.  The  following  is 
La  Salle's  description  of  the  locality  in  the  Relation  des  Decouvertes, 
written  in  1681 :  "  La  rive  gauche  de  la  riviere,  du  cote  du  sud,  est 
occupe'e  par  un  long  rocher,  fort  etroit  et  escarpe  presque  partout, 
a  la  reserve  d'un  endroit  de  plus  d'une  lieue  de  longueur,  situ^  vis- 
k-vis  du  village,  ou  le  terrain,  tout  convert  de  beaux  chenes,  s'e'tend 
par  une  pente  douce  jusqu'au  bord  de  la  riviere.  Au  dela  de  cette 
hauteur  est  une  vaste  plaine,  qui  s'etend  bien  loin  du  cote  du  sud, 
et  qui  est  traversee  par  la  riviere  Aramoni,  dont  les  bords  sont 
couverts  d'une  lisiere  de  bois  peu  large." 

The  Aramoni  is  laid  down  on  the  great  manuscript  map  of 
Franquelin,  1684,  and  on  the  map  of  Coronelli,  1688.  It  is,  without 
doubt,  the  Big  Vermilion.  Aramoni  is  the  Illinois  word  for  "  red," 
or  "  vermilion."  Starved  Rock,  or  the  Rock  of  St.  Louis,  is  the 
highest  and  steepest  escarpment  of  the  long  rocher  above  mentioned. 


222  TONTY  AND  THE   IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

of  the  long  arched  structure;  and,  as  to  each  fire 
there  are  two  families,  the  place  is  somewhat  crowded 
when  all  are  present.  But  now  there  is  breathing 
room,  for  many  are  in  the  fields.  A  squaw  sits 
weaving  a  mat  of  rushes;  a  warrior,  naked  except 
his  moccasins,  and  tattooed  with  fantastic  devices, 
binds  a  stone  arrow-head  to  its  shaft,  with  the  fresh 
sinews  of  a  buffalo.  Some  lie  asleep,  some  sit  star- 
ing in  vacancy,  some  are  eating,  some  are  squatted  in 
lazy  chat  around  a  fire.  The  smoke  brings  water  to 
your  eyes;  the  fleas  annoy  you;  small  unkempt 
children,  naked  as  young  puppies,  crawl  about  your 
knees  and  will  not  be  repelled.  You  have  seen 
enough ;  you  rise  and  go  out  again  into  the  sunlight. 
It  is,  if  not  a  peaceful,  at  least  a  languid  scene.  A 
few  voices  break  the  stillness,  mingled  with  the 
joyous  chirping  of  crickets  from  the  grass.  Young 
men  lie  flat  on  their  faces,  basking  in  the  sun;  a 
group  of  their  elders  are  smoking  around  a  buffalo- 
skin  on  which  they  have  just  been  playing  a  game  of 
chance  with  cherry-stones.  A  lover  and  his  mis- 
tress, perhaps,  sit  together  under  a  shed  of  bark, 
without  uttering  a  word.  Not  far  off  is  the  grave- 
yard, where  lie  the  dead  of  the  village,  some  buried 
in  the  earth,  some  wrapped  in  skins  and  laid  aloft  on 
scaffolds,  above  the  reach  of  wolves.  In  the  corn- 
fields around,  you  see  squaws  at  their  labor,  and 
children  driving  off  intruding  birds;  and  your  eye 
ranges  over  the  meadows  beyond,  spangled  with  the 
yellow  blossoms  of  the  resin-weed  and  the  Rudbeckia, 


1680.]  THE   ILLINOIS   TOWN.  223 

or  over  the  bordering  hills  still  green  with  the  foliage 
of  summer.  1 

This,  or  something  like  it,  one  may  safely  affirm, 
was  the  aspect  of  the  Illinois  village  at  noon  of  the 
tenth  of  September.  2  In  a  hut  apart  from  the  rest, 
you  would  probably  have  found  the  Frenchmen. 
Among  them  was  a  man,  not  strong  in  person,  and 
disabled,  moreover,  by  the  loss  of  a  hand,  yet  in  this 
den  of  barbarism  betraying  the  language  and  bearing 
of  one  formed  in  the  most  polished  civilization  of 
Europe.  This  was  Henri  de  Tonty.  The  others 
were  young  Boisrondet,  the  servant  L'Esp^rance, 
and  a  Parisian  youth  named  Etienne  Renault.     The 

1  The  Illinois  were  an  aggregation  of  distinct  though  kindred 
tribes,  —  the  Kaskaskias,  the  Peorias,  the  Kahokias,  the  Tamaroas, 
the  Moingona,  and  others.  Their  general  character  and  habits 
were  those  of  other  Indian  tribes ;  but  they  were  reputed  somewhat 
cowardly  and  slothful.  In  their  manners,  they  were  more  licentious 
than  many  of  their  neighbors,  and  addicted  to  practices  which  are 
sometimes  supposed  to  be  the  result  of  a  perverted  civilization. 
Young  men  enacting  the  part  of  women  were  frequently  to  be  seen 
among  them.  These  were  held  in  great  contempt.  Some  of  the 
early  travellers,  both  among  the  Illinois  and  among  other  tribes, 
where  the  same  practice  prevailed,  mistook  them  for  hermaphro- 
dites. According  to  Charlevoix  {Journal  Historique,  303),  this  abuse 
was  due  in  part  to  a  superstition.  The  Miamis  and  Piankishaws 
were  in  close  affinities  of  language  and  habits  with  the  Illinois. 
All  these  tribes  belonged  to  the  great  Algonquin  family.  The  first 
impressions  which  the  French  received  of  them,  as  recorded  in  the 
Relation  of  1671,  were  singularly  favorable  ;  but  a  closer  acquaint- 
ance did  not  confirm  them.  The  Illinois  traded  with  the  lake 
tribes,  to  whom  they  carried  slaves  taken  in  war,  receiving  in 
exchange  guns,  hatchets,  and  other  French  goods.  Marquette  in 
Relation,  1670,  91. 

2  This  is  Membre's  date.  The  narratives  differ  as  to  the  day, 
though  all  agree  as  to  the  month. 


224  TONTY  AND  THE  IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

friars,  Membr^  and  Ribourde,  were  not  in  the  vil- 
lage, but  at  a  hut  a  league  distant,  whither  they 
had  gone  to  make  a  "retreat"  for  prayer  and  medi- 
tation. Their  missionary  labors  had  not  been  fruit- 
ful ;  they  had  made  no  converts,  and  were  in  despair 
at  the  intractable  character  of  the  objects  of  their 
zeal.  As  for  the  other  Frenchmen,  time,  doubtless, 
hung  heavy  on  their  hands ;  for  nothing  can  surpass 
the  vacant  monotony  of  an  Indian  town  when  there 
is  neither  hunting,  nor  war,  nor  feasts,  nor  dances, 
nor  gambling,  to  beguile  the  lagging  hours. 

Suddenly  the  village  was  wakened  from  its  lethargy 
as  by  the  crash  of  a  thunderbolt.  A  Shawanoe, 
lately  here  on  a  visit,  had  left  his  Illinois  friends  to 
return  home.  He  now  reappeared,  crossing  the 
river  in  hot  haste,  with  the  announcement  that  he 
had  met,  on  his  way,  an  army  of  Iroquois  approach- 
ing to  attack  them.  All  was  panic  and  confusion. 
The  lodges  disgorged  their  frightened  inmates; 
women  and  children  screamed,  startled  warriors 
snatched  their  weapons.  There  were  less  than  five 
hundred  of  them,  for  the  greater  part  of  the  young 
men  had  gone  to  war.  A  crowd  of  excited  savages 
thronged  about  Tonty  and  his  Frenchmen,  already 
objects  of  their  suspicion,  charging  them,  with 
furious  gesticulation,  with  having  stirred  up  their 
enemies  to  invade  them.  Tonty  defended  himself  in 
broken  Illinois,  but  the  naked  mob  were  but  half 
convinced.  They  seized  the  forge  and  tools  and 
flung  them  into  the  river,  with  all  the  goods  that  had 


1680.]  THE   ALARM.  225 

been  saved  from  the  deserters;  then,  distrusting 
their  power  to  defend  themselves,  they  manned  the 
wooden  canoes  which  lay  in  multitudes  by  the  bank, 
embarked  their  women  and  children,  and  paddled 
down  the  stream  to  that  island  of  dry  land  in  the 
midst  of  marshes  which  La  Salle  afterwards  found 
filled  with  their  deserted  huts.  Sixty  warriors 
remained  here  to  guard  them,  and  the  rest  returned 
to  the  village.  All  night  long  fires  blazed  along  the 
shore.  The  excited  warriors  greased  their  bodies, 
painted  their  faces,  befeathered  their  heads,  sang 
their  war-songs,  danced,  stamped,  yelled,  and  bran- 
dished their  hatchets,  to  work  up  their  courage  to 
face  the  crisis.  The  morning  came,  and  with  it  came 
the  Iroquois. 

Young  warriors  had  gone  out  as  scouts,  and  now 
they  retui'ned.  They  had  seen  the  enemy  in  the 
line  of  forest  that  bordered  the  river  Aramoni,  or 
Vermilion,  and  had  stealthily  reconnoitred  them. 
They  were  very  numerous,^  and  armed  for  the  most 
part  with  guns,  pistols,  and  swords.  Some  had 
bucklers  of  wood  or  raw-hide,  and  some  wore  those 
corselets  of  tough  twigs  interwoven  with  cordage 
which  their  fathers  had  used  when  fire-arms  were 
unknown.  The  scouts  added  more,  for  they  declared 
that  they  had  seen  a  Jesuit  among  the  Iroquois ;  nay, 

1  The  Relation  des  Deconverics  says,  five  hundred  Iroquois  and  one 
hundred  Shawanoes.  Membr^  says  that  the  allies  were  Mianiis. 
He  is  no  doubt  right,  as  the  Miamis  had  promised  their  aid,  and 
the  Shawanoes  were  at  peace  with  the  Illinois.  Tonty  is  silent  on 
the  point. 

VOL.  I.  — 15 


226  TONTY  AND  THE  IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

that  La  Salle  himself  was  there,  whence  it  must 
follow  that  I'onty  and  his  men  were  enemies  and 
traitors.  The  supposed  Jesuit  was  but  an  Iroquois 
chief  arrayed  in  a  black  hat,  doublet,  and  stockings ; 
while  another,  equipped  after  a  somewhat  similar 
fashion,  passed  in  the  distance  for  La  Salle.  But 
the  Illinois  were  furious.  Tonty's  life  hung  by  a 
hair.  A  crowd  of  savages  surrounded  him,  mad 
with  rage  and  terror.  He  had  come  lately  from 
Europe,  and  knew  little  of  Indians,  but,  as  the  friar 
Membr^  says  of  him,  "he  was  full  of  intelligence 
and  courage,"  and  when  they  heard  him  declare  that 
he  and  his  Frenchmen  would  go  with  them  to  fight 
the  Iroquois,  their  threats  grew  less  clamorous  and 
their  eyes  glittered  with  a  less  deadly  lustre. 

Whooping  and  screeching,  they  ran  to  their  canoes, 
crossed  the  river,  climbed  the  woody  hill,  and 
swarmed  down  upon  the  plain  beyond.  About  a 
hundred  of  them  had  guns ;  the  rest  were  armed  with 
bows  and  arrows.  They  were  now  face  to  face  with 
the  enemy,  who  had  emerged  from  the  woods  of  the 
Vermilion,  and  were  advancing  on  the  open  prairie. 
With  unwonted  spirit,  for  their  repute  as  warriors 
was  by  no  means  high,  the  Illinois  began,  after  their 
fashion,  to  charge;  that  is,  they  leaped,  yelled,  and 
shot  off  bullets  and  arrows,  advancing  as  they  did 
so;  while  the  Iroquois  replied  with  gymnastics  no 
less  agile  and  bowlings  no  less  terrific,  mingled  with 
the  rapid  clatter  of  their  guns.  Tonty  saw  that  it 
would  go  hard  with  his  allies.     It  was  of  the  last 


1680.]  TONTY'S  MEDIATION.  227 

moment  to  stop  the  fight,  if  possible.  The  Iroquois 
were,  or  professed  to  be,  at  peace  with  the  French; 
and,  taking  counsel  of  his  courage,  he  resolved  on 
an  attempt  to  mediate,  which  may  well  be  called  a 
desperate  one.  He  laid  aside  his  gun,  took  in  his 
hand  a  wampum  belt  as  a  flag  of  truce,  and  walked 
forward  to  meet  the  savage  multitude,  attended  by 
Boisrondet,  another  Frenchman,  and  a  young  Illinois 
who  had  the  hardihood  to  accompany  him.  The 
guns  of  the  Iroquois  still  flashed  thick  and  fast. 
Some  of  them  were  aimed  at  him,  on  which  he  sent 
back  the  two  Frenchmen  and  the  Illinois,  and 
advanced  alone,  holding  out  the  wampum  belt.^  A 
moment  more,  and  he  was  among  the  infuriated 
warriors.  It  was  a  frightful  spectacle,  —  the  con- 
torted forms,  bounding,  crouching,  twisting,  to  deal 
or  dodge  the  shot;  the  small  keen  eyes  that  shone 
like  an  angry  snake's;  the  parted  lips  pealing  their 

1  Membre  says  that  he  went  with  Tonty  :  "  J'etois  aussi  a  cote  du 
Sieur  de  Tonty."  This  is  an  invention  of  the  friar's  vanity.  "  Les 
deux  peres  Re'collets  e'toient  alors  dans  une  cabane  a  une  lieue  du 
village,  oil  ils  s'e'toient  retire's  pour  faire  une  espece  de  retraite,  et 
ils  ne  furent  avertis  de  I'arrive'e  des  Iroquois  que  dans  le  temps  du 
combat."  —  Relation  des  Decouvertes.  "  Je  rencontrai  en  cheniin  les 
peres  Gabriel  et  Zenobe  Membre,  qui  cherchoient  de  mes  nouvelles." 
—  Tonty,  Memoire,  1693.  This  was  on  his  return  from  the  Iroquois. 
The  Relation  confirms  the  statement,  as  far  as  concerns  Membre : 
"  II  rencontra  le  P^re  Zenobe  [Memhre],  qui  venoit  pour  le  secourir, 
aiant  ete  averti  du  combat  et  de  sa  blessure." 

The  perverted  Demieres  Decouvertes,  published  without  authority, 
under  Tonty's  name,  says  that  he  was  attended  by  a  slave,  whom 
the  Illinois  sent  with  him  as  interpreter.  In  his  narrative  of  1684, 
Tonty  speaks  of  a  Sokokis  (Saco)  Indian  who  was  with  the  Iroquois, 
and  who  spoke  French  enough  to  serve  as  interpreter. 


228  TONTY  AND  THE  IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

fiendish  yells;  the  painted  features  writhing  with 
fear  and  fury,  and  every  passion  of  an  Indian  fight, 
—  man,  wolf,  and  devil,  all  in  one.^  With  his 
swarthy  complexion  and  his  half-savage  dress,  they 
thought  he  was  an  Indian,  and  thronged  about  him, 
glaring  murder.  A  young  warrior  stabbed  at  his 
heart  with  a  knife,  but  the  point  glanced  aside 
against  a  rib,  inflicting  only  a  deep  gash.  A  chief 
called  out  that,  as  his  ears  were  not  pierced,  he  must 
be  a  Frenchman.  On  this,  some  of  them  tried  to 
stop  the  bleeding,  and  led  him  to  the  rear,  where  an 
angry  parley  ensued,  while  the  yells  and  firing  still 
resounded  in  the  front.  Tonty,  breathless,  and 
bleeding  at  the  mouth  with  the  force  of  the  blow  he 
had  received,  found  words  to  declare  that  the  Illinois 
were  under  the  protection  of  the  King  and  the  gov- 
ernor of  Canada,  and  to  demand  that  they  should 
be  left  in  peace. ^ 

A  young  Iroquois  snatched  Tonty's  hat,  placed 
it  on  the  end  of  his  gun,  and  displayed  it  to  the 
Illinois,    who,    thereupon  thinking    he   was    killed, 


1  Being  once  in  an  encampment  of  Sioux  when  a  quarrel  broke 
out,  and  the  adverse  factions  raised  the  war-whoop  and  began  to 
fire  at  each  other,  I  had  a  good,  though  for  the  moment  a  rather 
dangerous,  opportunity  of  seeing  the  demeanor  of  Indians  at  the 
beginning  of  a  fight.  The  fray  was  quelled  before  much  mischief 
was  done,  by  the  vigorous  intervention  of  the  elder  warriors,  who 
ran  between  the  combatants. 

2  "  Je  leur  fis  connoistre  que  Ics  Islinois  etoient  sous  la  protec- 
tion du  roy  de  France  et  du  gouverneur  du  pays,  que  j'estois  surpris 
qu'ils  vou  lussent  rompre  avec  les  Fran9ois  et  qu'ils  voulussent 
attendre  [sic]  a  une  paix."  —  Tonty,  Memoire,  1693. 


1680.]  PERIL  OF   TONTY.  229 

renewed  the  fight;  and  the  firing  in  front  clattered 
more  angrily  than  before.  A  warrior  ran  in,  crying 
out  that  the  Iroquois  were  giving  ground,  and  that 
there  were  Frenchmen  among  the  Illinois,  who  fired 
at  them.  On  tliis,  the  clamor  around  Tonty  was 
redoubled.  Some  wished  to  kill  him  at  once ;  others 
resisted.  "I  was  never,"  he  writes,  "in  such  per- 
plexity; for  at  that  moment  there  was  an  Iroquois 
behind  me,  with  a  knife  in  his  hand,  lifting  my  hair 
as  if  he  were  going  to  scalp  me.  I  thought  it  was 
all  over  with  me,  and  that  my  best  hope  was  that 
they  would  knock  me  in  the  head  instead  of  burn- 
ing me,  as  I  believed  they  would  do."  In  fact,  a 
Seneca  chief  demanded  that  he  should  be  burned; 
while  an  Onondaga  chief,  a  friend  of  La  Salle,  was 
for  setting  him  free.  The  dispute  grew  fierce  and 
hot.  Tonty  told  them  that  the  Illinois  were  twelve 
hundred  strong,  and  that  sixty  Frenchmen  were  at 
the  village,  ready  to  back  them.  This  invention, 
though  not  fully  believed,  had  no  little  effect.  The 
friendly  Onondaga  carried  his  point;  and  the  Iroquois, 
having  failed  to  surprise  their  enemies,  as  they  had 
hoped,  now  saw  an  opportunity  to  delude  them  by  a 
truce.  They  sent  back  Tonty  with  a  belt  of  peace : 
he  held  it  aloft  in  sight  of  the  Illinois ;  chiefs  and  old 
warriors  ran  to  stop  the  fight;  the  yells  and  the  firing 
ceased;  and  Tonty,  like  one  waked  from  a  hideous 
nightmare,  dizzy,  almost  fainting  with  loss  of  blood, 
staggered  across  the  intervening  prairie,  to  rejoin  his 
friends.     He   was  met  by  the  two  friars,  Ribourde 


280  TONTY  AND  THE  IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

and  Membrd,  who  in  their  secluded  hut,  a  league 
from  the  village,  had  but  lately  heard  of  what  was 
passing,  and  who  now,  with  benedictions  and  thanks- 
giving, ran  to  embrace  him  as  a  man  escaped  from 
the  jaws  of  death. 

The  Illinois  now  withdrew,  re-embarking  in  their 
canoes,  and  crossing  again  to  their  lodges;  but 
scarcely  had  they  reached  them,  when  their  enemies 
appeared  at  the  edge  of  the  forest  on  the  opposite 
bank.  Many  found  means  to  cross,  and,  under  the 
pretext  of  seeking  for  provisions,  began  to  hover  in 
bands  about  the  skirts  of  the  town,  constantly  increas- 
ing in  numbers.  Had  the  Illinois  dared  to  remain,  a 
massacre  would  doubtless  have  ensued;  but  they 
knew  their  foe  too  well,  set  fire  to  their  lodges,  em- 
barked in  haste,  and  paddled  down  the  stream  to  re- 
join their  women  and  children  at  the  sanctuary  among 
the  morasses.  The  whole  body  of  the  Iroquois  now 
crossed  the  river,  took  possession  of  the  abandoned 
town,  building  for  themselves  a  rude  redoubt  or  fort 
of  the  trunks  of  trees  and  of  the  posts  and  poles 
forming  the  framework  of  the  lodges  which  escaped 
the  fire.  Here  they  ensconced  themselves,  and 
finished  the  work  of  havoc  at  their  leisure. 

Tonty  and  his  companions  still  occupied  their  hut ; 
but  the  Iroquois,  becoming  suspicious  of  them,  forced 
them  to  remove  to  the  fort,  crowded  as  it  was  with 
the  savage  crew.  On  the  second  day,  there  was  an 
alarm.  The  Illinois  appeared  in  numbers  on  the  low 
hills,  half  a  mile  behind  the  town ;  and  the  Iroquois, 


1680.]  IROQUOIS  TREACHERY.  231 

who  had  felt  their  courage,  and  who  had  been  told 
by  Tonty  that  they  were  twice  as  numerous  as  them- 
selves, showed  symptoms  of  no  little  uneasiness. 
They  proposed  that  he  should  act  as  mediator,  to 
which  he  gladly  assented,  and  crossed  the  meadow 
towards  the  Illinois,  accompanied  by  Membr^,  and 
by  an  Iroquois  who  was  sent  as  a  hostage.  The 
Illinois  hailed  the  overtures  with  delight,  gave  the 
ambassadors  some  refreshment,  which  they  sorely 
needed,  and  sent  back  with  them  a  young  man  of 
their  nation  as  a  hostage  on  their  part.  This  indis- 
creet youth  nearly  proved  the  ruin  of  the  negotiation ; 
for  he  was  no  sooner  among  the  Iroquois  than  he 
showed  such  an  eagerness  to  close  the  treaty,  made 
such  promises,  professed  such  gratitude,  and  betrayed 
so  rashly  the  numerical  weakness  of  the  Illinois,  that 
he  revived  all  the  insolence  of  the  invaders.  They 
turned  furiously  upon  Tonty,  and  charged  him  with 
having  robbed  them  of  the  glory  and  the  spoils  of 
victory.  "  Where  are  all  your  Illinois  warriors,  and 
where  are  the  sixty  Frenchmen  that  you  said  were 
among  them?"  It  needed  all  Tonty's  tact  and  cool- 
ness to  extricate  himself  from  this  new  danger. 

The  treaty  was  at  length  concluded ;  but  scarce^ 
was  it  made,  when  the  Iroquois  prepared  to  break  it, 
and  set  about  constructing  canoes  of  elm-bark,  in 
which  to  attack  the  Illinois  women  and  children  in 
their  island  sanctuary.  Tonty  warned  his  allies  that 
the  pretended  peace  was  but  a  snare  for  their  destruc- 
tion.    The  Iroquois,  on  their  part,  grew  hourly  more 


232  TONTY   AND  THE  IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

jealous  of  him,  and  would  certainly  have  killed  him, 
had  it  not  been  their  policy  to  keep  the  peace  with 
Frontenac  and  the  French. 

Several  days  after,  they  summoned  him  and 
Membr^  to  a  council.  Six  packs  of  beaver-skins 
were  brought  in;  and  the  savage  orator  presented 
them  to  Tonty  in  turn,  explaining  their  meaning  as 
he  did  so.  The  first  two  were  to  declare  that  the 
children  of  Count  Frontenac  —  that  is,  the  Illinois 
—  should  not  be  eaten ;  the  next  was  a  plaster  to 
heal  Tonty's  wound ;  the  next  was  oil  wheremth  to 
anoint  him  and  Membrd,  that  they  might  not  be 
fatigued  in  travelling ;  the  next  proclaimed  that  the 
sun  was  bright ;  and  the  sixth  and  last  required  them 
to  decamp  and  go  home.^  Tonty  thanked  them  for 
their  gifts,  but  demanded  when  they  themselves 
meant  to  go  and  leave  the  Illinois  in  peace.  At  this, 
the  conclave  grew  angry;  and,  despite  their  late 
pledge,  some  of  them  said  that  before  they  went  they 
would  eat  Illinois  flesh.  Tonty  instantly  kicked 
away  the  packs  of  beaver-skins,  the  Indian  symbol 
of  the  scornful  rejection  of  a  proposal,  telling  them 
that  since  they  meant  to  eat  the  governor's  children 
he  would  have  none  of  their  presents.     The  chiefs, 

1  An  Indian  speech,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  without  validity  if 
not  confirmed  by  presents,  each  of  which  has  its  special  interpreta- 
tion. The  meaning  of  the  fifth  pack  of  beaver,  informing  Tonty 
that  the  sun  was  bright,  —  "que  le  soleil  e'toit  beau,"  that  is,  that 
the  weather  was  favorable  for  travelling,  —  is  curiously  miscon- 
ceived by  the  editor  of  the  Demiei-es  Derourerfes,  who  improves  upon 
his  original  by  substituting  the  words  "  par  le  cinquieme  paquet  Us 
nous  exhortoient  a  adorer  le  Soleil." 


1680.]  MURDER    OF  RIBOURDE.  233 

in  a  rage,  rose  and  drove  him  from  the  lodge.  The 
French  withdrew  to  their  hut,  where  they  stood  all 
night  on  the  watch,  expecting  an  attack,  and  resolved 
to  sell  their  lives  dearly.  At  daybreak,  the  chiefs 
ordered  them  to  begone. 

Tonty,  with  admirable  fidelity  and  courage,  had 
done  all  in  the  power  of  man  to  protect  the  allies  of 
Canada  against  their  ferocious  assailants;  and  he 
thought  it  unwise  to  persist  further  in  a  course  which 
could  lead  to  no  good,  and  which  would  probably 
end  in  the  destruction  of  the  whole  party.  He 
embarked  in  a  leaky  canoe  with  Membr^,  Ribourde, 
Boisrondet,  and  the  remaining  two  men,  and  began 
to  ascend  the  river.  After  paddling  about  five 
leagues,  they  landed  to  dry  their  baggage  and  repair 
their  crazy  vessel;  when  Father  Ribourde,  breviary 
in  hand,  strolled  across  the  sunny  meadows  for  an 
hour  of  meditation  among  the  neighboring  groves. 
Evening  approached,  and  he  did  not  return.  Tonty, 
with  one  of  the  men,  went  to  look  for  him,  and, 
following  his  tracks,  presently  discovered  those  of  a 
band  of  Indians,  who  had  apparently  seized  or  mur- 
dered him.  Still,  they  did  not  despair.  They  fired 
their  guns  to  guide  him,  should  he  still  be  alive; 
built  a  huge  fire  by  the  bank,  and  then,  crossing  the 
river,  lay  watching  it  from  the  other  side.  At  mid- 
night, they  saw  the  figure  of  a  man  hovering  around 
the  blaze;  then  many  more  appeared,  but  Ribourde 
was  not  among  them.  In  truth,  a  band  of  Kickapoos, 
enemies  of  the  Iroquois,  about  whose  camp  they  had 


234  TONTY  AND  THE  IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

been  prowling  in  quest  of  scalps,  had  met  and  wan- 
tonly murdered  the  inoffensive  old  man.  They 
carried  his  scalp  to  their  village,  and  danced  round 
it  in  triumph,  pretending  to  have  taken  it  from  an 
enemy.  Thus,  in  his  sixty-fifth  year,  the  only  heir 
of  a  wealthy  Burgundian  house  perished  under  the 
war-clubs  of  the  savages  for  whose  salvation  he  had 
renounced  station,  ease,  and  affluence.^ 

Meanwhile,  a  hideous  scene  was  enacted  at  the 
ruined  village  of  the  Illinois.  Their  savage  foes, 
balked  of  a  living  prey,  wreaked  their  fury  on  the 
dead.  They  dug  up  the  graves;  they  threw  down 
the  scaffolds.  Some  of  the  bodies  they  burned; 
some  they  threw  to  the  dogs;  some,  it  is  affirmed, 
they  ate. 2  Placing  the  skulls  on  stakes  as  trophies, 
they  turned  to  pursue  the  Illinois,  who,  when  the 
French  withdrew,  had  abandoned  their  asylum  and 
retreated  down  the  river.  The  Iroquois,  still,  it 
seems,  in  awe  of  them,  followed  them  along  the 
opposite  bank,   each  night  encamping  face   to  face 

1  Tonty,  Memoire;  Membre  in  Le  Clerc,  ii.  191.  Hennepin, who 
hated  Tonty,  unjustly  charges  him  with  having  abandoned  the 
search  too  soon,  admitting,  however,  that  it  would  have  been  useless 
to  continue  it.  This  part  of  his  narrative  is  a  perversion  of 
Membre's  account. 

'^  "  Cependant  les  Iroquois,  aussitot  apres  le  depart  du  S''-  de 
Tonty,  exercerent  leur  rage  sur  les  corps  morts  des  Ilinois,  qu'ils 
deterrerent  ou  abbatterent  de  dessus  les  echafauds  oil  les  Ilinois  les 
laissent  longtemps  exposes  avant  que  de  les  mettre  en  terre.  Us 
en  brQlerent  la  plus  grande  partie,  ils  en  mangerent  meme  quelques 
uns,  et  jettcrent  le  reste  aux  chiens.  lis  planterent  les  tetes  de  ces 
cadavres  h  demi  de'charnes  sur  des  pieux,"  etc. —  Relation  des 
D^couvertes. 


1680.]  ATTACK  OF  THE  IROQUOIS.  235 

with  them ;  and  thus  the  adverse  bands  moved  slowly 
southward,  till  they  were  near  the  mouth  of  the 
river.  Hitherto,  the  compact  array  of  the  Illinois 
had  held  their  enemies  in  check;  but  now,  suffering 
from  hunger,  and  lulled  into  security  by  the  assur- 
ances of  the  Iroquois  that  their  object  was  not  to 
destroy  them,  but  only  to  drive  them  from  the 
country,  they  rashly  separated  into  their  several 
tribes.  Some  descended  the  Mississippi ;  some,  more 
prudent,  crossed  to  the  western  side.  One  of  their 
principal  tribes,  the  Tamaroas,  more  credulous  than 
the  rest,  had  the  fatuity  to  remain  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Illinois,  where  they  were  speedily  assailed  by 
all  the  force  of  the  Iroquois.  The  men  fled,  and 
very  few  of  them  were  killed;  but  the  women  and 
children  were  captured  to  the  number,  it  is  said,  of 
seven  hundred.  ^  Then  followed  that  scene  of  torture 
of  which,  some  two  weeks  later.  La  Salle  saw  the 
revolting  traces. ^  Sated,  at  length,  with  horrors, 
the  conquerors  withdrew,  leading  with  them  a  host 
of  captives,  and  exulting  in  their  triumplis  over 
women,  children,  and  the  dead. 

After  the  death  of  Father  Ribourde,  Tonty  and 
his  companions  remained  searching  for  him  till  noon 

1  Relation  des  Decouvertes ;  Frontenac  to  the  King,  N.  Y.  Col. 
Docs.,  ix.  147.  A  memoir  of  Duchesneau  makes  the  number  twelve 
hundred. 

2  "  lis  [les  Illinois]  trouv^rent  dans  leur  campement  des  carcasses 
de  lem^s  enfans  que  ces  anthropophages  avoient  mangez,  ne  voulant 
meme  d'autre  nourriture  que  la  chair  de  ces  inf  ortunez." — La  Poth- 
erie,  ii.  145,  146.     Compare  note,  ante,  p.  211. 


236  TONTY  AND  THE  IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

of  the  next  day,  and  then  in  despair  of  again  seeing 
him,  resumed  their  journey.  They  ascended  the 
river,  leaving  no  token  of  their  passage  at  the  Junc- 
tion of  its  northern  and  southern  branches.  For 
food,  they  gathered  acorns  and  dug  roots  in  the 
meadows.  Their  canoe  proved  utterly  worthless; 
and,  feeble  as  they  were,  they  set  out  on  foot  for 
Lake  Michigan.  Boisrondet  wandered  off,  and  was 
lost.  He  had  dropped  the  flint  of  his  gun,  and  he 
had  no  bullets;  but  he  cut  a  pewter  porringer  into 
slugs,  with  which  he  shot  wild  turkeys  by  discharg- 
ing his  piece  with  a  firebrand,  and  after  several  days 
he  had  the  good  fortune  to  rejoin  the  party.  Their 
object  was  to  reach  the  Pottawattamies  of  Green 
Bay.  Had  they  aimed  at  Michilimackinac,  they 
would  have  found  an  asylum  with  La  Forest  at  the 
fort  on  the  St.  Joseph;  but  unhappily  they  passed 
westward  of  that  post,  and,  by  way  of  Chicago,  fol- 
lowed the  borders  of  Lake  Michigan  northward.  The 
cold  was  intense ;  and  it  was  no  easy  task  to  grub  up 
wild  onions  from  the  frozen  ground  to  save  them- 
selves from  starving.  Tonty  fell  ill  of  a  fever  and  a 
swelling  of  the  limbs,  which  disabled  him  from  travel- 
ling, and  hence  ensued  a  long  delay.  At  length  they 
neared  Green  Bay,  where  they  would  have  starved, 
had  they  not  gleaned  a  few  ears  of  corn  and  frozen 
squashes  in  the  fields  of  an  empty  Indian  town. 

This  enabled  them  to  reach  the  bay,  and  having 
patched  an  old  canoe  which  they  had  the  good  luck 
to  find,  they  embarked  in  it ;  whereupon,  says  Tonty, 


1680.]  FRIENDS  IN  NEED.  237 

"  there  rose  a  northwest  wind,  which  lasted  five  days, 
with  driving  snow.  We  consumed  all  our  food ;  and 
not  knowing  what  to  do  next,  we  resolved  to  go  back 
to  the  deserted  town,  and  die  by  a  warm  fire  in  one 
of  the  wigwams.  On  our  way,  we  saw  a  smoke ;  but 
our  joy  was  short,  for  when  we  reached  the  fire  we 
found  nobody  there.  We  spent  the  night  by  it ;  and 
before  morning  the  bay  froze.  We  tried  to  break  a 
way  for  our  canoe  through  the  ice,  but  could  not: 
and  therefore  we  determined  to  stay  there  another 
night,  and  make  moccasins  in  order  to  reach  the 
town.  We  made  some  out  of  Father  Gabriel's  cloak. 
I  was  angry  with  Etienne  Renault  for  not  finisliing 
his;  but  he  excused  himself  on  account  of  illness, 
because  he  had  a  great  oppression  of  the  stomach, 
caused  by  eating  a  piece  of  an  Indian  shield  of  raw- 
hide, which  he  could  not  digest.  His  delay  proved 
our  salvation;  for  the  next  day,  December  fourth,  as 
I  was  urging  him  to  finish  the  moccasins,  and  he  was 
still  excusing  himself  on  the  score  of  his  malady,  a 
party  of  Kiskakon  Ottawas,  who  were  on  their  way 
to  the  Pottawattamies,  saw  the  smoke  of  our  fire, 
and  came  to  us.  We  gave  them  such  a  welcome  as 
was  never  seen  before.  They  took  us  into  their 
canoes,  and  carried  us  to  an  Indian  village,  only  two 
leagues  off.  There  we  found  five  Frenchmen,  who 
received  us  kindly,  and  all  the  Indians  seemed  to 
take  pleasure  in  sending  us  food;  so  that,  after 
thirty-four  days  of  starvation,  we  found  our  famine 
turned  to  abundance." 


238  TONTY  AND  THE  IROQUOIS.  [1680. 

This  hospitable  village  belonged  to  the  Pottawat- 
tamies,  and  was  under  the  sway  of  the  chief  who  had 
befriended  La  Salle  the  year  before,  and  who  was 
wont  to  say  that  he  knew  but  three  great  captains  in 
the  world,  — Frontenac,  La  Salle,  and  himself.  ^ 

1  Membr^  in  Le  Clerc,  ii.  199.  The  other  authorities  for  the  fore- 
going chapter  are  the  letters  of  La  Salle,  the  Relation  des  Decou- 
vertes,  in  which  portions  of  them  are  embodied,  and  the  two  narra- 
tives of  Tonty,  of  1684  and  1093.     They  all  agree  in  essential  points. 

In  his  letters  of  this  period,  La  Salle  dwells  at  great  length  on 
the  devices  by  which,  as  he  believed,  his  enemies  tried  to  ruin  him 
and  his  enterprise.  He  is  particularly  severe  against  the  Jesuit 
AUouez,  whom  he  charges  with  intriguing  "pour  commencer  la 
guerre  entre  les  Iroquois  et  les  Illinois  par  le  moyen  des  Miamis 
qu'on  engageoit  dans  cette  ne'gociation  afin  ou  de  me  faire  mas- 
sacrer  avec  mes  gens  par  quelqu'une  de  ces  nations  ou  de  me 
brouiller  avec  les  Iroquois."  —  Lettre  (a  Thouret?),  22  Aout,\QQ2. 
He  gives  in  detail  the  circumstances  on  which  this  suspicion  rests, 
but  which  are  not  convincing.  He  says,  further,  that  the  Jesuits 
gave  out  that  Tonty  was  dead  in  order  to  discourage  the  men  going 
to  his  relief,  and  that  Allouez  encouraged  the  deserters,  "  leur  ser- 
voit  de  conseil,  bdnit  mesme  leurs  balles,  et  les  asseura  plusieurs 
fois  que  M.  de  Tonty  auroit  la  teste  cassee."  He  also  affirms  that 
great  pains  were  taken  to  spread  the  report  that  he  was  himself 
dead.  A  Kiskakon  Indian,  he  says,  was  sent  to  Tonty  with  a  story 
to  this  effect;  while  a  Huron  named  Scortas  was  sent  to  him  (La 
Salle)  with  false  news  of  the  death  of  Tonty.  The  latter  confirms 
this  statement,  and  adds  that  the  Illinois  had  been  told  "  que  M.  de 
la  Salle  estoit  venu  en  leur  pays  pour  les  donner  k.  manger  aux 
Iroquois." 


1680.J  THE  ILLINOIS  TOWN.  239 


THE   ILLINOIS  TOWN. 

The  Site  op  the  Great  Illinois  Town.  —  This  has  not 
till  now  been  determined,  though  there  have  been  various  con- 
jectures concerning  it.  From  a  study  of  the  contemporary 
documents  and  maps,  I  became  satisfied,  first,  that  the  branch 
of  the  river  Illinois,  called  the  "  Big  Vermilion,"  was  the 
Aramoni  of  the  French  explorers  ;  and,  secondly,  that  the  cliff 
called  "  Starved  Rock "  was  that  known  to  the  French  as  Le 
Rocher,  or  the  Rock  of  St.  Louis.  If  I  was  right  in  this  conclu- 
sion, then  the  position  of  the  Great  Village  was  established ; 
for  there  is  abundant  proof  that  it  was  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river,  above  the  Aramoni,  and  below  Le  Rocher.  I  accordingly 
went  to  the  village  of  Utica,  which,  as  I  judged  by  the  map, 
was  very  near  the  point  in  question,  and  mounted  to  the  top  of 
one  of  the  hills  immediately  behind  it,  whence  I  could  see  the 
valley  of  the  Illinois  for  miles,  bounded  on  the  farther  side  by 
a  range  of  hills,  in  some  parts  rocky  and  precipitous,  and  in 
others  covered  with  forests.  Far  on  the  right  was  a  gap  in 
these  hills,  through  which  the  Big  Vermilion  flowed  to  join  the 
Illinois ;  and  somewhat  towards  the  left,  at  the  distance  of  a 
mile  and  a  half,  was  a  huge  cliff,  rising  perpendicularly  from 
the  opposite  margin  of  the  river.  This  I  assumed  to  be  Le 
Rocher  of  the  French,  though  from  where  I  stood  I  was  unable 
to  discern  the  distinctive  features  which  I  was  prepared  to  find 
in  it.  In  every  other  respect,  the  scene  before  me  was  precisely 
what  I  had  expected  to  see.  There  was  a  meadow  on  the  hither 
side  of  the  river,  on  which  stood  a  farmhouse  ;  and  this,  as  it 
seemed  to  me,  by  its  relations  with  surrounding  objects,  might 
be  supposed  to  stand  in  the  midst  of  the  space  once  occupied 
by  the  Illinois  town. 

On  the  way  down  from  the  hill  I  met  Mr.  James  Clark,  the 
principal  inhabitant  of  Utica,  and  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
this  region.     I  accosted  him,  told  him  my  objects,  and  requested 


240  TPIE  ILLINOIS  TOWN.  [1680. 

a  half  hour's  conversation  with  him,  at  his  leisure.  He  seemed 
interested  in  the  inquiry,  and  said  he  would  visit  me  early  in 
the  evening  at  the  inn,  where,  accordingly,  he  soon  appeared. 
The  conversation  took  place  in  the  porch,  where  a  number  of 
farmers  and  others  were  gathered.  I  asked  Mr.  Clark  if  any 
Indian  remains  were  found  in  the  neighborhood.  "  Yes,"  he 
replied,  "  plenty  of  them."  I  then  inquired  if  thei*e  was  any  one 
spot  where  they  were  more  numerous  than  elsewhere.  "Yes," 
he  answered  again,  pointing  towards  the  farmhouse  on  the 
meadow ;  "  on  my  farm  down  yonder  by  the  river,  my  tenant 
ploughs  up  teeth  and  bones  by  the  peck  every  spring,  besides 
arrow-heads,  beads,  stone  hatchets,  and  other  things  of  that 
sort."  I  replied  that  this  was  precisely  what  I  had  expected,  as 
I  had  been  led  to  believe  that  the  principal  town  of  the  Illinois 
Indians  once  covered  that  very  spot.  "  If,"  I  added,  "  I  am 
right  in  this  belief,  the  great  rock  beyond  the  river  is  the  one 
which  the  first  explorers  occupied  as  a  fort ;  and  I  can  describe 
it  to  you  from  their  accounts  of  it,  though  I  have  never  seen  it, 
except  from  the  top  of  the  hill  where  the  trees  on  and  around 
it  prevented  me  from  seeing  any  part  but  the  front."  The  men 
present  now  gathered  around  to  listen.  "  The  rock,"  I  con- 
tinued, "is  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  rises 
directly  from  the  water.  The  front  and  two  sides  are  perpen- 
dicular and  inaccessible ;  but  there  is  one  place  where  it  is 
possible  for  a  man  to  climb  up,  though  with  difficulty.  The 
top  is  large  enough  and  level  enough  for  houses  and  fortifica- 
tions." Here  several  of  the  men  exclaimed :  "That's  just  it." 
"  You  've  hit  it  exactly."  I  then  asked  if  there  was  any  other 
rock  on  that  side  of  the  river  which  could  answer  to  the  descrip- 
tion. They  all  agreed  that  there  was  no  such  rock  on  either 
side,  along  the  whole  length  of  the  river.  I  then  said  :  "  If  the 
Indian  town  was  in  the  place  where  I  suppose  it  to  have  been,  I 
can  tell  you  the  nature  of  the  country  which  lies  behind  the 
hills  on  the  farther  side  of  the  river,  though  I  know  nothing 
about  it  except  what  I  have  learned  from  writings  nearly  two 
centuries  old.  From  the  top  of  the  hills,  you  look  out  upon  a 
great  prairie  reaching  as  far  as  you  can  see,  except  that  it  is 
crossed  by  a  belt  of  woods,  following  the  course  of  a  stream 


1680.]  THE  ILLINOIS   TOWN.  241 

which  enters  the  main  river  a  few  miles  below."  (See  ante,  p. 
221,  note.)  "You  are  exactly  right  again,"  replied  Mr.  Clark; 
"  we  caU  that  belt  of  timber  the  '  Vermilion  Woods,'  and  the 
stream  is  the  Big  Vermilion."  "  Then,"  I  said,  "  the  Big  Ver- 
milion is  the  river  which  the  French  called  the  Aramoni; 
'  Starved  Rock '  is  the  same  on  which  they  built  a  fort  called  St. 
Louis,  in  the  year  1682 ;  and  your  farm  is  on  the  site  of  the 
great  town  of  the  Illinois." 

I  spent  the  next  day  in  examining  these  localities,  and  was 
fully  confirmed  in  my  conclusions.  Mr.  Clark's  tenant  showed 
me  the  spot  where  the  human  bones  were  ploughed  up.  It  was 
no  doubt  the  graveyard  violated  by  the  Iroquois.  The  Illinois 
returned  to  the  village  after  their  defeat,  and  long  continued 
to  occupy  it.  The  scattered  bones  were  probably  collected  and 
restored  to  their  place  of  burial. 


VOL.   I.  — 16 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

1680. 

THE  ADVENTURES  OF  HENNEPIN. 

Hennepin  an  Impostor  :  his  Pretended  Discovery  ;  his  Actual 
Discovery  ;  Captured  by  the  Sioux.  —  The  Upper  Mississippi. 

It  was  on  the  last  day  of  the  winter  that  preceded 
the  invasion  of  the  Iroquois  that  Father  Hennepin, 
with  his  two  companions,  Accau  and  Du  Gay,  had 
set  out  from  Fort  Crevecoeur  to  explore  the  Illinois  to 
its  mouth.  It  appears  from  his  own  later  statements, 
as  well  as  from  those  of  Tonty,  that  more  than  this 
was  expected  of  him,  and  that  La  Salle  had  instructed 
him  to  explore,  not  alone  the  Illinois,  but  also  the 
Upper  Mississippi.  That  he  actually  did  so,  there 
is  no  reasonable  doubt ;  and  could  he  have  contented 
himself  with  telling  the  truth,  his  name  would  have 
stood  high  as  a  bold  and  vigorous  discoverer.  But 
his  vicious  attempts  to  malign  his  commander  and 
plunder  him  of  his  laurels  have  wrapped  his  genuine 
merit  in  a  cloud. 

Hennepin's  first  book  was  published  soon  after  his 
return  from  his  travels,  and  while  La  Salle  was  still 
alive.     In   it  he  relates  the  accomplishment  of  the 


1680.]  HENNEPIN'S   RESOLUTION.  243 

instructions  given  him,  without  the  smallest  intima- 
tion that  he  did  more.^  Fourteen  years  after,  when 
La  Salle  was  dead,  he  published  another  edition  of 
his  travels,  2  in  which  he  advanced  a  new  and  sur- 
prising pretension.  Reasons  connected  with  his  per- 
sonal safety,  he  declares,  before  compelled  him  to 
remain  silent;  but  a  time  at  length  had  come  when 
the  truth  must  be  revealed.  And  he  proceeds  to 
affirm,  that,  before  ascending  the  Mississij)pi,  he, 
with  his  two  men,  explored  its  whole  course  from  the 
Illinois  to  the  sea,  —  thus  anticipating  the  discovery 
wliich  forms  the  crowning  laurel  of  La  Salle. 

"I  am  resolved,"  he  says,  "to  make  known  here 
to  the  whole  world  the  mystery  of  this  discovery, 
which  I  have  hitherto  concealed,  that  I  might  not 
offend  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  who  wished  to  keep  all 
the  glory  and  all  the  knowledge  of  it  to  himself.  It 
is  for  this  that  he  sacrificed  many  persons  whose  lives 
he  exposed,  to  prevent  them  from  making  known 
what  they  had  seen,  and  thereby  crossing  his  secret 
plans.  ...  I  was  certain  that  if  I  went  down  the 
Mississippi,  he  would  not  fail  to  traduce  me  to  my 
superiors  for  not  taking  the  northern  route,  which  I 
was  to  have  followed  in  accordance  with  his  desire 
and  the  plan  we  had  made  together.  But  I  saw 
myself  on  the  point  of  dying  of  hunger,  and  knew 
not  what  to  do ;  because  the  two  men  who  were  with 

1  Description  de  la  Louisiane,  nouvellement  decouverte,  Paris,  1683. 

2  Nouvelle  Decouverte  d'un  tres  grand  Pays  situe  dans  I'Amerique, 
Utrecht,  1697. 


244  THE  ADVENTURES  OF   HENNEPIN.       [1680. 

me  threatened  openly  to  leave  me  in  the  night,  and 
carry  off  the  canoe  and  everything  in  it,  if  I  prevented 
them  from  going  down  the  river  to  the  nations  below. 
Finding  myself  in  this  dilemma,  I  thought  that  I 
ought  not  to  hesitate,  and  that  I  ought  to  prefer  my 
own  safety  to  the  violent  passion  which  possessed  the 
Sieur  de  la  Salle  of  enjoying  alone  the  glory  of  this 
discovery.  The  two  men,  seeing  that  I  had  made  up 
my  mind  to  follow  them,  promised  me  entire  fidelity; 
so,  after  we  had  shaken  hands  together  as  a  mutual 
pledge,  we  set  out  on  our  voyage."  ^ 

He  then  proceeds  to  recount  at  length  the  particu- 
lars of  his  alleged  exploration.  The  story  was  dis- 
trusted from  the  first.  ^  Why  had  he  not  told  it 
before?  An  excess  of  modesty,  a  lack  of  self- 
assertion,  or  a  too  sensitive  reluctance  to  wound  the 
susceptibilities  of  others,  had  never  been  found  among 
his  foibles.  Yet  some,  perhaps,  might  have  believed 
him,  had  he  not  in  the  first  edition  of  his  book  gra- 
tuitously and  distinctly  declared  that  he  did  not 
make  the  voyage  in  question.  "We  had  some 
designs,"  he  says,  "of  going  down  the  river  Colbert 
[Mississippi]  as  far  as  its  mouth ;  but  the  tribes  that 
took  us  prisoners  gave  us  no  time  to  navigate  this 
river  both  up  and  down."^ 

1  Nouvelle  Decouverte,  248,  250,  251. 

2  See  the  preface  of  the  Spanish  translation  by  Don  Sebastian 
Fernandez  de  Medrano,  1699,  and  also  the  letter  of  Gravier,  dated 
1701,  in  Shea's  Early  Voyages  on  the  Mississippi.  Barcia,  Charle- 
voix, Kalm,  and  other  early  writers  put  a  low  value  on  Hennepin's 
veracity. 

8  Description  de  la  Louisiane,  218. 


1680.]  HENNEPIN  AN  IMPOSTOR.  245 

In  declaring  to  the  world  the  achievement  which 
he  had  so  long  concealed  and  so  explicitly  denied, 
the  worthy  missionary  fomid  himself  in  serious 
embarrassment.  In  his  first  book,  he  had  stated  that 
on  the  twelfth  of  March  he  left  the  mouth  of  the 
Illinois  on  his  way  northward,  and  that  on  the 
eleventh  of  April  he  was  captured  by  the  Sioux  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  five  hundred  miles 
above.  This  would  give  him  only  a  month  to  make 
his  alleged  canoe-voyage  from  the  Illinois  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  again  upward  to  the  place  of  his 
capture,  —  a  distance  of  three  thousand  two  hundred 
and  sixty  miles.  With  his  means  of  transportation, 
three  months  would  have  been  insufficient.^  He  saw 
the  difficulty;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  saw  that 
he  could  not  greatly  change  either  date  without  con- 
fusing the  parts  of  his  narrative  which  preceded  and 
which  followed.  In  this  perplexity  he  chose  a  middle 
course,  which  only  involved  him  in  additional  contra- 
dictions. Having,  as  he  affirms,  gone  down  to  the 
Gulf  and  returned  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  he 
set  out  thence  to  explore  the  river  above;  and  he 
assigns  the  twenty-fourth  of  April  as  the  date  of 
this  departure.     This  gives  him  forty- three  days  for 

1  La  Salle,  in  the  following  year,  with  a  far  better  equipment, 
was  more  than  three  months  and  a  half  in  making  the  journey.  A 
Mississippi  trading-boat  of  the  last  generation,  with  sails  and  oars, 
ascending  against  the  current,  was  thought  to  do  remarkably  well 
if  it  could  make  twenty  miles  a  day.  Hennepin,  if  we  believe  his 
own  statements,  must  have  ascended  at  an  average  rate  of  sixty 
miles,  though  his  canoe  was  large  and  heavily  laden. 


246  THE  ADVENTURES   OF   HENNEPIN.       [1680. 

his  voyage  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  back. 
Looking  further,  we  find  that  having  left  the  Illinois 
on  the  twenty-fourth  he  paddled  his  canoe  two  hun- 
dred leagues  northward,  and  was  then  captured  by 
the  Sioux  on  the  twelfth  of  the  same  month.  In 
short,  he  ensnares  himself  in  a  hopeless  confusion  of 
dates.  ^ 

Here,  one  would  think,  is  sufficient  reason  for 
rejecting  his  story ;  and  yet  the  general  truth  of  the 
descriptions,  and  a  certain  verisimilitude  which  marks 
it,  might  easily  deceive  a  careless  reader  and  perplex 
a  critical  one.  These,  however,  are  easily  explained. 
Six  years  before  Hennepin  published  his  pretended 
discovery,  his  brother  friar.  Father  Chretien  Le 
Clerc,  published  an  account  of  the  Rc^coUet  missions 
among  the  Indians,  under  the  title  of  "  Etablissement 
de  la  Foi."  This  book,  offensive  to  the  Jesuits,  is 
said  to  have  been  suppressed  by  order  of  government; 
but  a  few  copies  fortunately  survive.^  One  of  these 
is  now  before  me.  It  contains  the  journal  of  Father 
Zenobe  Membr^,  on  liis  descent  of  the  Mississippi  in 

1  Hennepin  here  falls  into  gratuitous  inconsistencies.  In  the 
edition  of  1697,  in  order  to  gain  a  little  time,  lie  says  that  he  left 
the  Illinois  on  his  voyage  southward  on  the  eighth  of  March,  1680; 
and  yet  in  the  preceding  chapter  lie  repeats  the  statement  of  the 
first  edition,  that  he  was  detained  at  the  Illinois  by  floating  ice  till 
the  twelfth.  Again,  he  says  in  the  first  edition  that  he  was  cap- 
tured by  the  Sioux  on  the  eleventh  of  April ;  and  in  the  edition  of 
1697  he  changes  this  date  to  the  twelfth,  without  gaining  any 
advantage  by  doing  so. 

2  Le  Clcrc's  book  had  been  made  the  text  of  an  attack  on  the 
Jesuits.  See  Reflexions  sur  un  Livre  intitule  Premier  Etablissement  de 
la  Foi.    This  piece  is  printed  in  the  Morale  Pratique  des  Jesuites. 


1680.  J  HENNEPIN  AN  IMPOSTOR.  247 

1681,  in  company  with  La  Salle.  The  slightest  com- 
parison of  his  narrative  with  that  of  Hennepin  is 
sufficient  to  show  that  the  latter  framed  his  own 
story  out  of  incidents  and  descriptions  furnished  by 
his  brother  missionary,  often  using  his  very  words, 
and  sometimes  copying  entire  pages,  with  no  other 
alterations  than  such  as  were  necessary  to  make 
himself,  instead  of  La  Salle  and  his  companions,  the 
hero  of  the  exploit.  The  records  of  literary  piracy 
may  be  searched  in  vain  for  an  act  of  depredation 
more  recklessly  impudent.^ 

Such  being  the  case,  what  faith  can  we  put  in  the 
rest  of  Hennepin's  story?  Fortunately,  there  are 
tests  by  which  the  earlier  parts  of  his  book  can  be 

^  Hennepin  may  have  copied  from  the  unpublished  journal  of 
Membre,  which  the  latter  had  placed  in  the  hands  of  his  Superior ; 
or  he  may  have  compiled  from  Le  Clerc's  book,  relying  on  the  sup- 
pression of  the  edition  to  prevent  detection.  He  certainly  saw  and 
used  it ;  for  he  elsewhere  borrows  the  exact  words  of  the  editor. 
He  is  so  careless  that  he  steals  from  Membre  passages  which  he 
might  easily  have  written  for  himself ;  as,  for  example,  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  opossum  and  another  of  the  cougar,  —  animals  with 
which  he  was  acquainted.  Compare  the  following  pages  of  the 
Nouvelle  Decouverte  with  the  corresponding  pages  of  Le  Clerc  :  Hen- 
nepin, 252,  Le  Clerc,  ii.  217;  H.  253,  Le  C.  ii.  218;  H.  257,  Le  C. 
ii.  221 ;  H.  259,  Le  C.  ii.  224 ;  H.  262,  Le  C.  ii.  226 ;  H.  265,  Le  C.  ii. 
229 ;  H.  267,  Le  C.  ii.  233 ;  H.  270,  Le  C.  ii.  235 ;  H.  280,  Le  C. 
ii.  240 ;  H.  295,  Le  C.  ii.  249 ;  H.  296,  Le  C.  ii.  250 ;  H.  297,  Le  C.  ii. 
253;  H.  299,  Le  C.  ii.  254;  H.  301,  Le  C.  ii.  257.  Some  of  these 
parallel  passages  will  be  found  in  Sparks's  Life  of  La  Salle,  where 
this  remarkable  fraud  was  first  fully  exposed.  In  Shea's  Discovery 
of  the  Mississippi,  there  is  an  excellent  critical  examination  of  Hen- 
nepin's works.  His  plagiarisms  from  Le  Clerc  are  not  confined  to 
the  passages  cited  above ;  for  in  his  later  editions  he  stole  largely 
from  other  parts  of  the  suppressed  Etahlissement  de  la  Foi. 


248  THE  ADVENTURES  OF  HENNEPIN.       [1680. 

tried;  and,  on  the  whole,  they  square  exceedingly 
well  with  contemporary  records  of  undoubted  authen- 
ticity. Bating  his  exaggerations  respecting  the  Falls 
of  Niagara,  his  local  descriptions,  and  even  his  esti- 
mates of  distance,  are  generally  accurate.  He  con- 
stantly, it  is  true,  magnifies  his  own  acts,  and  thrusts 
himself  forward  as  one  of  the  chiefs  of  an  enterprise 
to  the  costs  of  which  he  had  contributed  nothing, 
and  to  which  he  was  merely  an  appendage ;  and  yet, 
till  he  reaches  the  Mississippi,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  in  the  main  he  tells  the  truth.  As  for  his  ascent 
of  that  river  to  the  country  of  the  Sioux,  the  general 
statement  is  fully  confirmed  by  La  Salle,  Tonty,  and 
other  contemporary  writers.^  For  the  details  of  the 
journey  we  must  rest  on  Hennepin  alone,  whose 
account  of  the  country  and  of  the  peculiar  traits  of 
its  Indi^  occupants  afford,  as  far  as  they  go,  good 
evidence  of  truth.  Indeed,  this  part  of  his  narrative 
could  only  have  been  written  by  one  well  versed  in  the 
savage  life  of  this  northwestern  region.  ^     Trusting, 

1  It  is  certain  that  persons  having  the  best  means  of  information 
believed  at  the  time  in  Hennepin's  story  of  his  journeys  on  the 
Upper  Mississippi.  The  compiler  of  the  Relation  des  Decouvertes, 
who  was  in  close  relations  with  La  Salle  and  those  who  acted  with 
him,  does  not  intimate  a  doubt  of  the  truth  of  the  report  which 
Hennepin  on  his  return  gave  to  the  Provincial  Commissary  of  his 
Order,  and  which  is  in  substance  the  same  which  he  published  two 
years  later.  The  Relation,  it  is  to  be  observed,  was  written  only  a 
few  months  after  the  return  of  Hennepin,  and  embodies  the  pith  of 
his  narrative  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  no  part  of  which  had  then 
been  published. 

2  In  this  connection,  it  is  well  to  examine  the  various  Sioux 
words  which  Hennepin  uses  incidentally,  and  which  he  must  have 


1680.]  HIS  VOYAGE  NORTHWARD.  249 

then,  to  his  own  guidance  in  the  absence  of  better, 
let  us  follow  in  the  wake  of  his  adventurous  canoe. 

It  was  laden  deeply  with  goods  belonging  to  La 
Salle,  and  meant  by  him  as  presents  to  Indians  on 
the  way,  though  the  travellers,  it  appears,  proposed 
to  use  them  in  trading  on  their  own  account.  The 
friar  was  still  wrapped  in  his  gray  capote  and  hood, 
shod  with  sandals,  and  decorated  with  the  cord  of  St. 
Francis.     As  for  his  two  companions,  Accau^  and 

acquired  by  personal  intercourse  with  the  tribe,  as  no  Frenchman 
then  understood  the  language.  These  words,  as  far  as  my  informa- 
tion reaches,  are  in  every  instance  correct.  Thus,  he  says  that  the 
Sioux  called  his  breviary  a  "  bad  spirit," —  Ouackanche.  Wakanshe, 
or  Wakanshecha,  would  express  the  same  meaning  in  modern  Eng- 
lish spelling.  He  says  elsewhere  that  they  called  the  guns  of  his 
companions  ManzaouackancM,  which  he  translates,  "  iron  possessed 
with  a  bad  spirit."  The  western  Sioux  to  this  day  call  a  gun  Man- 
zawakan,  "metal  possessed  with  a  spirit."  Chonga  (shonka),  "a 
dog,"  Quasi  (wahsee),  "a  pine-tree,"  Chinnen  (shinnan),  "a  robe,"  or 
"  garment,"  and  other  words,  are  given  correctly,  with  their  inter- 
pretations. The  word  Louis,  affirmed  by  Hennepin  to  mean  "  the 
sun,"  seems  at  first  sight  a  wilful  inaccuracy,  as  this  is  not  the  word 
used  in  general  by  the  Sioux.  The  Yankton  band  of  this  people, 
however,  call  the  sun  oouee,  which,  it  is  evident,  represents  the 
French  pronunciation  of  Louis,  omitting  the  initial  letter.  Tliis 
Hennepin  would  be  apt  enough  to  supply,  thereby  conferring  a 
compliment  alike  on  himself,  Louis  Hennepin,  and  on  the  King, 
Louis  XIV.,  who,  to  the  indignation  of  his  brother  monarchs,  had 
chosen  the  sun  as  his  emblem. 

Various  trivial  incidents  touched  upon  by  Hennepin,  while  re- 
counting his  life  among  the  Sioux,  seem  to  me  to  afford  a  strong 
presumption  of  an  actual  experience.  I  speak  on  this  point  with 
the  more  confidence,  as  the  Indians  in  whose  lodges  I  was  once 
domesticated  for  several  weeks  belonged  to  a  western  band  of  the 
same  people. 

^  Called  Ako  by  Hennepin.  In  contemporary  documents,  it  is 
written  Accau,  Acau,  D'Accau,  Dacau,  Dacan,  and  D'Accault. 


250  THE   ADVENTURES  OF   HENNEPIN.       [1680. 

Du  Gay,  it  is  tolerably  clear  that  the  former  was  the 
real  leader  of  the  party,  though  Hennepin,  after  his 
custom,  thrusts  himself  into  the  foremost  place. 
Both  were  somewhat  above  the  station  of  ordinary 
hired  hands ;  and  Du  Gay  had  an  uncle  who  was  an 
ecclesiastic  of  good  credit  at  Amiens,  his  native 
place. 

In  the  forests  that  overhung  the  river  the  buds 
were  feebly  swelling  with  advancing  spring.  There 
was  game  enough.  They  killed  buffalo,  deer, 
beavers,  wild  turkeys,  and  now  and  then  a  bear 
swimming  in  the  river.  With  these,  and  the  fish 
which  they  caught  in  abundance,  they  fared  sumptu- 
ously, though  it  was  the  season  of  Lent.  They  were 
exemplary,  however,  at  their  devotions.  Hennepin 
said  prayers  at  morning  and  night,  and  the  angdus 
at  noon,  adding  a  petition  to  Saint  Anthony  of  Padua 
that  he  would  save  them  from  the  peril  that  beset 
their  way.  In  truth,  there  was  a  lion  in  the  path. 
The  ferocious  character  of  the  Sioux,  or  Dacotah, 
who  occupied  the  region  of  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
was  already  known  to  the  French;  and  Hennepin, 
with  excellent  reason,  prayed  that  it  might  be  his 
fortune  to  meet  them,  not  by  night,  but  by  day. 

On  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  of  April,  they  stopped 
in  the  afternoon  to  repair  their  canoe ;  and  Hennepin 
busied  himself  in  daubing  it  with  pitch,  while  the 
others  cooked  a  turkey.  Suddenly,  a  fleet  of  Sioux 
canoes  swept  into  sight,  bearing  a  war-party  of  a 
hundred  and  twenty  naked  savages,  who  on  seeing 


1680.]  CAPTURED  BY  THE   SIOUX.  251 

the  travellers  raised  a  hideous  clamor;  and,  some 
leaping  ashore  and  others  into  the  water,  they  sur- 
rounded the  astonished  Frenchmen  in  an  instant.^ 
Hennepin  held  out  the  peace-pipe ;  but  one  of  them 
snatched  it  from  him.  Next,  he  hastened  to  proffer 
a  gift  of  Martinique  tobacco,  which  was  better 
received.  Some  of  the  old  warriors  repeated  the 
name  Miamiha,  giving  him  to  understand  that  they 
were  a  war-party,  on  the  way  to  attack  the  Miamis ; 
on  which,  Hennepin,  with  the  help  of  signs  and  of 
marks  which  he  drew  on  the  sand  with  a  stick, 
explained  that  the  Miamis  had  gone  across  the 
Mississippi,  beyond  their  reach.  Hereupon,  he  says 
that  three  or  four  old  men  placed  their  hands  on  his 
head,  and  began  a  dismal  wailing ;  while  he  with  his 
handkerchief  wiped  away  their  tears,  in  order  to 
evince  sympathy  with  their  affliction,  from  whatever 
cause  arising.  Notwithstanding  this  demonstration 
of  tenderness,  they  refused  to  smoke  with  him  in  his 
peace-pipe,  and  forced  him  and  his  companions  to 
embark  and  paddle  across  the  river;  while  they  all 
followed  behind,  uttering  yells  and  bowlings  which 
froze  the  missionary's  blood. 

On  reaching  the  farther  side,  they  made  their 
camp-fires,  and  allowed  their  prisoners  to  do  the 
same.     Accau  and  Du  Gay  slung  their  kettle ;  while 

1  The  edition  of  1683  says  that  there  were  thirty-three  canoes : 
that  of  1697  raises  the  number  to  fifty.  The  number  of  Indians  is 
the  same  in  both.  The  later  narrative  is  more  in  detail  than  the 
former. 


252         THE  ADVENTURES  OF  HENNEPIN.        [1680. 

Hennepin,  to  propitiate  the  Sioux,  carried  to  them 
two  turkeys,  of  which  there  were  several  in  the 
canoe.  The  warriors  had  seated  themselves  in  a 
ring,  to  debate  on  the  fate  of  the  Frenchmen;  and 
two  chiefs  presently  explained  to  the  friar,  by  signifi- 
cant signs,  that  it  had  been  resolved  that  his  head 
should  be  split  with  a  war-club.  This  produced  the 
effect  which  was  no  doubt  intended.  Hennepin  ran 
to  the  canoe,  and  quickly  returned  with  one  of  the 
men,  both  loaded  with  presents,  wliich  he  threw  into 
the  midst  of  the  assembly;  and  then,  bowing  his 
head,  offered  them  at  the  same  time  a  hatchet  with 
which  to  kill  him,  if  they  wished  to  do  so.  His 
gifts  and  his  submission  seemed  to  appease  them. 
They  gave  him  and  his  companions  a  dish  of  beaver's 
flesh;  but,  to  his  great  concern,  they  returned  his 
peace-pipe,  —  an  act  which  he  interpreted  as  a  sign 
of  danger.  That  night  the  Frenchmen  slept  little, 
expecting  to  be  murdered  before  morning.  There 
was,  in  fact,  a  great  division  of  opinion  among  the 
Sioux.  Some  were  for  killing  them  and  taking  their 
goods;  while  others,  eager  above  all  things  that 
French  traders  should  come  among  them  with  the 
knives,  hatchets,  and  guns  of  which  they  had  heard 
the  value,  contended  that  it  would  be  impolitic  to 
discourage  the  trade  by  putting  to  death  its  pioneers. 
Scarcely  had  morning  dawned  on  the  anxious  cap- 
tives, when  a  young  chief,  naked,  and  painted  from 
head  to  foot,  appeared  before  them  and  asked  for  the 
pipe,  which  the  friar  gladly  gave  him.     He  filled  it, 


1680.]  SUSPECTED  OF  SORCERY.  253 

smoked  it,  made  the  warriors  do  the  same,  and,  hav- 
ing given  this  hopeful  pledge  of  amity,  told  the 
Frenchmen  that,  since  the  Miamis  were  out  of  reach, 
the  war-party  would  return  home,  and  that  they  must 
accompany  them.  To  this  Hennepin  gladly  agreed, 
having,  as  he  declares,  his  great  work  of  exploration 
so  much  at  heart  that  he  rejoiced  in  the  prospect  of 
achieving  it  even  in  their  company. 

He  soon,  however,  had  a  foretaste  of  the  affliction 
in  store  for  him;  for  when  he  opened  his  breviary 
and  began  to  mutter  his  morning  devotion,  his  new 
companions  gathered  about  him  with  faces  that 
betrayed  their  superstitious  terror,  and  gave  him  to 
understand  that  his  book  was  a  bad  spirit  with  which 
he  must  hold  no  more  converse.  They  thought, 
indeed,  that  he  was  muttering  a  charm  for  their 
destruction.  Accau  and  Du  Gay,  conscious  of  the 
danger,  begged  the  friar  to  dispense  with  his  devo- 
tions, lest  he  and  they  alike  should  be  tomahawked ; 
but  Hennepin  says  that  his  sense  of  duty  rose  superior 
to  his  fears,  and  that  he  was  resolved  to  repeat  his 
office  at  all  hazards,  though  not  until  he  had  asked 
pardon  of  his  two  friends  for  thus  imperilling  their 
lives.  Fortunately,  he  presently  discovered  a  device 
by  which  his  devotion  and  his  prudence  were  com- 
pletely reconciled.  He  ceased  the  muttering  which 
had  alarmed  the  Indians,  and,  with  the  breviary  open 
on  his  knees,  sang  the  service  in  loud  and  cheerful 
tones.  As  this  had  no  savor  of  sorcery,  and  as  they 
now  imagined  that  the  book  was  teaching  its  owner 


254         THE  ADVENTURES  OF  HENNEPIN.        [1680. 

to  sing  for  their  amusement,  they  conceived  a  favor- 
able opinion  of  both  alike. 

These  Sioux,  it  may  be  observed,  were  the  ances- 
tors of  those  who  committed  the  horrible  but  not 
unprovoked  massacres  of  1862,  in  the  valley  of  the 
St.  Peter.  Hennepin  complains  bitterly  of  their 
treatment  of  him,  which,  however,  seems  to  have 
been  tolerably  good.  Afraid  that  he  would  lag 
behind,  as  his  canoe  was  heavy  and  slow,^  they 
placed  several  warriors  in  it  to  aid  him  and  his  men 
in  paddling.  They  kept  on  their  way  from  morning 
till  night,  building  huts  for  their  bivouac  when  it 
rained,  and  sleeping  on  the  open  ground  when  the 
weather  was  fair,  —  which,  says  Hennepin,  "  gave  us 
a  good  opportunity  to  contemplate  the  moon  and 
stars."  The  three  Frenchmen  took  the  precaution 
of  sleeping  at  the  side  of  the  young  chief  who  had 
been  the  first  to  smoke  the  peace-pipe,  and  who 
seemed  inclined  to  befriend  them;  but  there  was 
another  chief,  one  Aquipaguetin,  a  crafty  old  savage, 
who  having  lost  a  son  in  war  with  the  Miamis,  was 
angry  that  the  party  had  abandoned  their  expedition, 
and  thus  deprived  him  of  his  revenge.  He  therefore 
kept  up  a  dismal  lament  through  half  the  night; 
while  other  old  men,  crouching  over  Hennepin  as  he 
lay  trying  to  sleep,  stroked  him  with  their  hands,  and 
uttered  wailings  so  lugubrious  that  he  was  forced  to 

1  And  yet  it  had,  hy  his  account,  made  a  distance  of  thirteen 
hundred  and  eighty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  upward 
in  twenty-four  days  ! 


1680.]  THE  CAPTIVE  FRIAR.  255 

the  belief  that  he  had  been  doomed  to  death,  and 
that  they  were  charitably  bemoaning  his  fate.^ 

One  night,  the  captives  were,  for  some  reason, 
unable  to  bivouac  near  their  protector,  and  were 
forced  to  make  their  fire  at  the  end  of  the  camp. 
Here  they  were  soon  beset  by  a  crowd  of  Indians, 
who  told  them  that  Aquipaguetin  had  at  length 
resolved  to  tomahawk  them.  The  malcontents  were 
gathered  in  a  knot  at  a  little  distance,  and  Hennepin 
hastened  to  appease  them  by  another  gift  of  knives 
and  tobacco.  This  was  but  one  of  the  devices  of  the 
old  chief  to  deprive  them  of  their  goods  without 
robbing  them  outright.  He  had  with  him  the  bones 
of  a  deceased  relative,  which  he  was  carrying  home 
wrapped  in  skins  prepared  with  smoke  after  the 
Indian  fashion,  and  gayly  decorated  with  bands  of 
dyed  porcupine  quills.  He  would  summon  his  war- 
riors, and  placing  these  relics  in  the  midst  of  the 
assembly,  call  on  all  present  to  smoke  in  their  honor; 
after  which,  Hennepin  was  required  to  offer  a  more 
substantial  tribute  in  the  shape  of  cloth,  beads, 
hatchets,  tobacco,  and  the  like,  to  be  laid  upon  the 
bundle  of  bones.  The  gifts  thus  acquired  were  then, 
in  the  name  of  the  deceased,  distributed  among  the 
persons  present. 

1  This  weeping  and  wailing  over  Hennepin  once  seemed  to  me 
an  anomaly  in  his  account  of  Sioux  manners,  as  I  am  not  aware 
that  such  practices  are  to  be  found  among  them  at  present.  They 
are  mentioned,  however,  by  other  early  writers.  Le  Sueur,  who 
was  among  them  in  1699-1700,  was  wept  over  no  less  than  Henne- 
pin.   See  the  abstract  of  his  journal  in  La  Harpe. 


256         THE  ADVENTURES  OF  HENNEPIN.       [1680. 

On  one  occasion,  Aquipaguetin  killed  a  bear,  and 
invited  the  chiefs  and  warriors  to  feast  upon  it. 
They  accordingly  assembled  on  a  prairie,  west  of  the 
river,  where,  after  the  banquet,  they  danced  a  "  medi- 
cine-dance." They  were  all  painted  from  head  to 
foot,  with  their  hair  oiled,  garnished  with  red  and 
white  feathers,  and  powdered  with  the  down  of  birds. 
In  this  guise  they  set  their  arms  akimbo,  and  fell  to 
stamping  with  such  fury  that  the  hard  prairie  was 
dented  with  the  prints  of  their  moccasins ;  while  the 
chief's  son,  crying  at  the  top  of  his  throat,  gave  to 
each  in  turn  the  pipe  of  war.  Meanwhile,  the  chief 
himself,  singing  in  a  loud  and  rueful  voice,  placed 
his  hands  on  the  heads  of  the  three  Frenchmen,  and 
from  time  to  time  interrupted  his  music  to  utter  a 
vehement  harangue.  Hennepin  could  not  understand 
the  words,  but  his  heart  sank  as  the  conviction  grew 
strong  within  him  that  these  ceremonies  tended  to 
his  destruction.  It  seems,  however,  that,  after  all 
the  chief's  efforts,  his  party  was  in  the  minority,  the 
greater  part  being  adverse  to  either  killing  or  robbing 
the  three  strangers. 

Every  morning,  at  daybreak,  an  old  warrior  shouted 
the  signal  of  departure;  and  the  recumbent  savages 
leaped  up,  manned  their  birchen  fleet,  and  plied  their 
paddles  against  the  current,  often  without  waiting 
to  break  their  fast.  Sometimes  they  stopped  for  a 
buffalo-hunt  on  the  neighboring  prairies;  and  there 
was  no  lack  of  provisions.  They  passed  Lake  Pepin, 
which  Hennepin  called  the  Lake  of  Tears,  by  reason 


1680.]  A  HARD  JOURNEY.  257 

of  the  howlings  and  lamentations  here  uttered  over 
him  by  Aquipaguetin,  and  nineteen  days  after  his 
capture  landed  near  the  site  of  St.  Paul.  The 
father's  sorrows  now  began  in  earnest.  The  Indians 
broke  his  canoe  to  pieces,  having  first  hidden  their 
own  among  the  alder-bushes.  As  they  belonged  to 
different  bands  and  different  villages,  their  mutual 
jealousy  now  overcame  all  their  prudence ;  and  each 
proceeded  to  claim  his  share  of  the  captives  and  the 
booty.  Happily,  they  made  an  amicable  distribution, 
or  it  would  have  fared  ill  with  the  three  Frenchmen ; 
and  each  taking  his  share,  not  forgetting  the  priestly 
vestments  of  Hennepin,  the  splendor  of  which  they 
could  not  sufficiently  admire,  they  set  out  across  the 
country  for  their  villages,  which  lay  towards  the 
north  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lake  Buade,  now  called 
Mille  Lac. 

Being,  says  Hennepin,  exceedingly  tall  and  active, 
they  walked  at  a  prodigious  speed,  insomuch  that  no 
European  could  long  keep  pace  with  them.  Though 
the  month  of  May  had  begun,  there  were  frosts  at 
night ;  and  the  marshes  and  ponds  were  glazed  with 
ice,  which  cut  the  missionary's  legs  as  he  waded 
through.  They  swam  the  larger  streams,  and  Hen- 
nepin nearly  perished  with  cold  as  he  emerged  from 
the  icy  current.  His  two  companions,  who  were 
smaller  than  he,  and  who  could  not  swim,  were 
carried  over  on  the  backs  of  the  Indians.  They 
showed,  however,  no  little  endurance ;  and  he  declares 
that  he  should  have  dropped  by  the  way,  but  for  their 

VOL.  I.  — 17 


258         THE  ADVENTURES   OF   HENNEPIN.       [1680. 

support.  Seeing  him  disposed  to  lag,  the  Indians, 
to  spur  him  on,  set  fire  to  the  dry  grass  behind  him, 
and  then,  taking  him  by  the  hands,  ran  forward  with 
him  to  escape  the  flames.  To  add  to  his  misery,  he 
was  nearly  famished,  as  they  gave  him  only  a  small 
piece  of  smoked  meat  once  a  day,  though  it  does  not 
appear  that  they  themselves  fared  better.  On  the 
fifth  day,  being  by  this  time  in  extremity,  he  saw  a 
crowd  of  squaws  and  children  approaching  over  the 
prairie,  and  presently  descried  the  bark  lodges  of 
an  Indian  town.  The  goal  was  reached.  He  was 
among  the  homes  of  the  Sioux. 


END   OF   VOL.   I. 


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